A QR code looks like static, but it's a grid encoding actual data — usually a URL, but also plain text, Wi-Fi credentials, or contact details. A phone camera decodes the grid pattern back into that data in a fraction of a second, which is why they took over from typing out a URL by hand.
Why they still scan when part of the code is damaged
QR codes are built with error-correction encoded directly into the grid, so a scanner can reconstruct the missing data even if up to roughly 30% of the code is scratched, covered, or printed poorly (at the highest error-correction level). That headroom is also why logos get placed in the center of a lot of branded QR codes without breaking the scan.
Making one
- Open the QR Code Generator.
- Choose what it should encode — a link, plain text, or a Wi-Fi network with its password.
- Download it as an image sized for print or screen display.
A detail worth checking before printing
A URL-based QR code only works if the link behind it keeps working — if the destination page moves or gets taken down after the code is already printed on packaging or a flyer, the code itself doesn't update. For anything printed at scale, pointing the code at a URL you control (rather than a one-off page you might restructure later) avoids having to reprint everything.
Reading one back
If you have a QR code as an image file rather than something to point a camera at — a screenshot, a scanned document — the QR code scanner decodes it directly from the uploaded image.