Free QR Code Reader
Drop in a photo or a screenshot and see exactly what the code says — a payment, a Wi-Fi network, a web address or plain text. The image is read in your browser and never uploaded.
Or drag one here, or paste a screenshot.
Exactly what the code contains
We do not open it for you. Copy it and paste it somewhere you can see where it goes before you follow it.
Choose, drop or paste an image of a QR code and what it says appears here.
The image is read on your device and never uploaded, and a camera frame never leaves it either. We count that a code was read and what kind it was — never the address, the network, the password or anything else inside it.
What is actually inside a QR code
Text. That is all a QR code holds — a short line of it, with a convention in front that tells a phone what kind of text it is:
upi://pay?pa=ramesh@okaxis&am=450.00&cu=INR
WIFI:T:WPA;S:Cafe Noor;P:coffee123;;
https://example.com/menuThis reader shows you that line exactly as it is, and reads the parts out underneath it. Nothing is hidden and nothing is tidied.
Why there is no "Open" button
Because a QR code is the one kind of link nobody can read before they follow it, and a reader that opens them for you has made the decision on your behalf. A code on a parking meter, a poster or a letter can point anywhere.
So the address is shown as text, with its host on a line of its own — the host is the part that says who you are really dealing with. Copy it, look at it, and follow it yourself if you want to.
What it can read
UPI payment codes, Wi-Fi network codes, web addresses, contact cards (vCard and MECARD), calendar events, phone numbers, text messages, email addresses, map locations and plain text. Anything else is shown as the text it is.
Using the camera
On a phone, Use the camera opens the back camera and reads the code as soon as it is steady in frame. Nothing is recorded and no frame leaves the device: each one is looked at and thrown away.
The camera stops the moment a code is read, when you press stop, and when you switch away from the tab — there is no state in which it keeps running behind your back. If you blocked the camera for this site once, the browser will not ask again: the padlock in the address bar is where you let it back in.
Why a photo sometimes fails
Three things stop a code reading: a steep angle, so the squares are no longer square; a cropped edge, because the white border is part of the code; and heavy blur. A straight-on photo, or a screenshot of the code on a screen, reads best.
Glare is the other one. A laminated or glossy code under a direct light throws it back at the camera and the middle of the code disappears.
Is it safe to scan a code you were given?
Scanning is safe — reading the text out of an image cannot do anything to your phone. What is not automatically safe is what the code says: a link to a page that asks you to sign in, or a payment request that is not from who you think.
That is the whole reason this page exists. Read it here first, then decide.
How to read a QR code
- Drop in a photo or a screenshot, or use the camera.
- Read what the code actually contains.
- Copy it if you need it, or close the page.