How to make a Wi-Fi QR code

Make one 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 silently.
3. Pick the security type and enter the password. Almost every modern router is WPA/WPA2/WPA3; choose None only for a genuinely open network.
4. Download SVG for print or PNG for a screen, then scan it with a phone that is not already on the network — that is the only real test.

What the code actually contains

There is no magic: the code stores a single line of text in a format 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 have to be escaped with a backslash — the generator does that for you, which is the main reason hand-written Wi-Fi codes fail.

Hidden networks need the hidden flag

If your SSID is not broadcast, the code must say so. Without the hidden flag the phone searches for a visible network, finds nothing, and reports that it cannot join — which looks exactly like a wrong password. Tick Hidden network and the problem disappears.

Understand what you are printing

A Wi-Fi QR code contains the password in plain text. Anyone who photographs the card can decode it with any scanner — it is a convenience feature, not a security one. 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 sit on.

The clean pattern for a business: put customers on a separate guest SSID with its own password, and print the code for that network only. Then the printed card can be photographed all day without touching anything that matters.

Practical details for printing

• Size. A card read from arm's length needs roughly 3 cm of code — see the print-size rule.
• Add a caption. A frame with “Scan to join Wi-Fi” meaningfully raises how many people actually try it. Codes with no instruction get ignored.
• 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 defeats more scans than any design choice.

When you change the password

A static Wi-Fi code embeds the password, so rotating the password invalidates every printed card. If you rotate often, either regenerate and reprint as part of that routine, or accept a long-lived guest password and keep the 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 — in that order, they account for nearly every failure. If the phone does not react to the code at all, the problem is the code itself rather than the network: work through the scanning checklist. You can also decode your own code here to see the exact text it carries.