Scan QR codes without pointing a phone at your screen
Upload a photo, drag in a screenshot, or just paste from the clipboard, and the decoded contents appear instantly — handy when the QR code is on the screen in front of you and you can't exactly point your phone at its own display. Blurry or oversized photos are retried at several scales automatically, and the Camera tab turns your webcam into a live scanner. Everything runs on your device: neither the image nor the video stream is ever uploaded to a server.
The scanner recognizes what it decodes: URLs get a clearly labeled link you can open (it never navigates automatically — check the address first, since QR contents are untrusted), WiFi codes show the network name and password ready to copy, and mailto, tel, SMS, vCard, and geo payloads are labeled with their parsed fields. To go the other direction, generate codes with the QR code generator or the WiFi QR code generator; for 1D codes like EAN and Code 128, use the barcode generator. If the scanner shows a black picture, run the webcam test first to check your camera is working at all.
Frequently asked questions
Can I scan a QR code from a screenshot on my desktop?
Yes — that is the main reason this tool exists. Take a screenshot, then paste it straight into the page with Ctrl+V (Cmd+V on Mac), drag the image file onto the drop zone, or click to pick a file. JPG, PNG, WebP, and iPhone HEIC photos all work, and the decoded contents appear immediately.
What can the scanner read besides website links?
It recognizes and parses WiFi network codes (the WIFI:S:...;P:...;; format, showing the network name and password with copy buttons), vCard and MECARD contact cards, mailto email links, tel phone numbers, SMS messages, and geo coordinates. Anything else is shown as plain decoded text you can copy.
Why won’t my QR code scan?
The usual culprits are blur, low contrast, a crop that cuts off one of the three finder squares in the corners, or a missing quiet zone (the blank margin around the code). The tool automatically retries oversized photos at several smaller scales and also tries inverted colors, which rescues many marginal shots — but if the code is badly blurred or partially covered, try a sharper photo taken straight-on.
How is this different from scanning with Google Lens?
Google Lens sends your image to Google’s servers for processing. This scanner decodes entirely in your browser — the image never leaves your device. That difference matters when the code contains a WiFi password, an internal company link, or anything else you would not paste into a third-party service.
Does it open URLs automatically?
No, and that is deliberate. A decoded URL is displayed as text first, with a clearly labeled link you have to click yourself — so you can check the address before visiting it. QR codes are a common phishing vector (“quishing”) precisely because phone cameras open them instantly; this tool gives you a moment to look first.