How to make a Wi-Fi QR code

Make a Wi-Fi QR code in four steps

1. Open the generator and choose the Wi-Fi content type.
2. Type the network name exactly as it appears in the Wi-Fi list, including capitals, spaces and punctuation. The SSID is case-sensitive, and a mismatch fails without any clear error.
3. Pick the security type and enter the password. Almost every home or office router uses WPA-family security, so choose WPA/WPA2; choose None only for an open network with no password.
4. Download SVG for print or PNG for a screen, then test it with a phone that is not already connected to the network. A phone that already knows the network will not show you whether the code works.

What a Wi-Fi QR code contains

The code stores a single line of text in a format that phones recognise:

WIFI:T:WPA;S:Cafe Guest;P:flatwhite2026;H:false;;

T is the security type, S the network name, P the password and H whether the network is hidden. Semicolons, commas, colons and backslashes inside a name or password must be escaped with a backslash. The generator does this for you; forgetting it is the main reason hand-written Wi-Fi codes fail.

Hidden networks need the hidden flag

If your SSID is not broadcast, the code has to say so. Without the hidden flag, the phone looks for a visible network, finds nothing and reports that it cannot join, which looks just like a wrong password. Tick Hidden network to fix it.

Is a Wi-Fi QR code secure?

A Wi-Fi QR code contains the password in plain text. Anyone who photographs the card can decode it with any scanner, so it is a convenience feature with no security value. That is usually fine for a café or a home guest network, and a bad idea for the network your point of sale, cameras or file server use.

For a business, the safer setup is a separate guest SSID with its own password, and a printed code for that network only. Anyone can photograph the card without gaining access to your internal systems.

Printing a Wi-Fi QR code

• Size. A card read from arm's length needs a code about 3 cm wide. See the print-size rule.
• Add a caption. A frame with “Scan to join Wi-Fi” tells guests what the code is for, and more of them will try it. A code with no instruction is easy to overlook.
• Print the password too, in small text under the code. Older phones and locked-down work devices cannot use Wi-Fi codes at all.
• Avoid glossy lamination in bright rooms. Glare causes more failed scans than any design choice.

When you change the password

A static Wi-Fi code contains the password, so changing the password makes every printed card out of date. If you change it often, either make regenerating and reprinting the code part of that routine, or keep a long-lived guest password and put sensitive traffic on a different network.

If it does not work

Check the SSID's capitalisation first, then the security type, then whether the network is hidden. Between them, these three account for nearly every failure. If the phone does not react to the code at all, the problem is with the code rather than the network, so work through the scanning checklist. You can also decode your own code here to see the exact text it carries.