A Wi-Fi QR code is your network name and password written in a format a phone camera understands. The guest points a camera at it and is online a few seconds later. Nobody types twenty characters on a phone keyboard while you wait. Your own phone or laptop can probably make one already, and that is safer than pasting the password into a website.
- What’s in it
- Your network name and password, in plain text.
- Make one on
- Android 10 or later, or an iPhone on iOS 18.
- Scan with
- The ordinary camera app on iPhone and most Android phones.
- Remember
- Anyone who photographs the code has the password.
What is inside a Wi-Fi QR code
Nothing clever. The code holds a short line of text that starts with WIFI:. For a network called Spare Room with the password kettle-orbit-plum it looks like this:
WIFI:T:WPA;S:Spare Room;P:kettle-orbit-plum;;
| Field | Means | Values |
|---|---|---|
T: |
Security type | WPA for WPA, WPA2 and WPA3. nopass for an open network. |
S: |
Network name | Exactly as the router shows it. Capitals count. |
P: |
Password | Left out for an open network. |
H: |
Hidden network | true only if the network name isn’t broadcast. |
The format came from ZXing, the barcode library behind the early Android scanner apps, and phone cameras adopted it. It has one real gotcha. Semicolons, colons, commas, quote marks and backslashes in the name or password have to be written with a backslash in front, so p;ss becomes p\;ss. A generator that forgets this produces a code that scans fine and then fails to join.
The other thing to understand is that the password is not hidden. Any QR reader app will show it in plain text. A Wi-Fi QR code is a convenience, not a lock.
Make one with what you already have
Android
On Android 10 or later, open Settings, then Network & internet, and tap the network you’re connected to (on newer versions it sits under Internet). Tap Share and confirm with your fingerprint or PIN. The code appears on screen. Pixel phones also print the password underneath; Samsung phones show only the code.
iPhone
From iOS 18 there’s a Passwords app. Open it, tap Wi-Fi, choose the network and tap Show Network QR Code. Take a screenshot if you want to print it. iOS 17 and earlier can’t draw the code, though from iOS 16 the (i) beside the network in Settings, Wi-Fi will show you the password.
Windows 11
On version 24H2 or later, open Settings, then Network & internet, then Wi-Fi, then Manage known networks. Pick the network and press Show beside the Wi-Fi network password. The QR code appears next to it. Earlier builds show the password without a code; our Windows Wi-Fi password guide covers those.
Router apps
Several router apps make a code straight from the guest network settings. The eero app has a Share QR code button, and NETGEAR’s Nighthawk app offers one in Guest WiFi. That’s the tidiest route, because it always reflects the current password.
Online generators work too. We’d still rather you didn’t type a password into a website you know nothing about, when the phone in your pocket does the same job offline.
Scanning it
On an iPhone, open the Camera app and point it at the code. A banner appears; tap it and then Join. If nothing happens, check that Scan QR Codes is switched on in Settings, Camera. Apple added this in iOS 11, so almost every iPhone in use can do it.
Most Android phones do the same from the camera or Google Lens. On older ones the scanner lives in Settings, Wi-Fi, behind a small QR icon next to Add network.
Printing it for a guest room or a counter
- Print the name and password as text under the code. Some phones won’t read it, and some guests won’t want to try.
- Make it big enough. A rough rule is a centimetre of code for every ten centimetres between the code and the phone. A card on a bedside table can be small. A poster across a room can’t.
- Use matt paper or a matt laminate. Glossy pouches catch the light and the camera gives up.
- Date it. When you change the password, you’ll know which cards are out of date.
When the code won’t join
Usually the password has changed and the code hasn’t. After that, check for one of these:
- An unescaped character. A semicolon or colon in the password, written without its backslash, cuts the password short.
- A hidden network without
H:truein the code. - The guest network has switched itself off. ASUS can close it after an access time you set. Deco turns it off when nobody has been connected for about ten minutes, if a duration is set. Virgin Media’s Hub asks how long it should stay on.
- A WPA3-only network and an older phone. The phone can’t join at all, code or no code. WPA2/WPA3 mixed mode fixes it.
QR codes in a café or shop
A code on every table gets customers online quickly. It also tells the business nothing about them, and the password is now on every phone that ever photographed the table. Venues that want to know who their customers are put a sign-in page in front of the guest network instead. capturewifi.com is the one we run, for UniFi networks.
For the router side of things, see how to set up a guest network on each brand. And if you are still choosing the password that goes into the code, read our guest Wi-Fi password ideas first.
