How to Make a Wi-Fi QR Code

Make it (Wi-Fi tab, 2 minutes)

Open the tool and pick the Wi-Fi tab. There are only four things to fill in.

1. Network name (SSID). Enter it exactly as it appears in your phone's Wi-Fi list, capitalization and all.
2. Password. The one guests would normally type. If your password has odd characters in it, don't worry. The tool escapes special characters for you automatically.
3. Security type. The dropdown offers WPA/WPA2/WPA3, WEP, or open network. Almost every modern router uses WPA/WPA2/WPA3, so that's the pick for nearly everyone. WEP is rare and old. Open means no password at all.
4. Hidden network. Tick this checkbox only if your router doesn't broadcast the network name. Most don't need it.

Hit download and you get a PNG up to 4000px or a vector SVG that scales to any size without going fuzzy. The tool warns you if your colors don't have enough contrast to scan, and the quiet margin (the blank border scanners need) is always included. That's it. No account, and the code is generated entirely in your browser.

How scan-to-join actually works

There's no magic and no app involved. The code contains a standard WIFI: text format that phone cameras have understood for years, on both iPhone and Android. When someone points their camera at it, the phone reads the network name, security type, and password straight out of the pattern and offers to join.

Notice what's missing from that description: the internet. The phone doesn't need a connection to read the code, because everything it needs lives in the squares. Which is the whole point. The person scanning doesn't have Wi-Fi yet. A code that required internet to hand out internet would be a bad joke.

This is also why a static Wi-Fi code from this tool never expires. There's no server in the middle that can lapse or go dark. The code you print today works for as long as your network exists with those credentials.

Where to put it

Anywhere you're tired of spelling the password out loud.

• Cafes and restaurants. Table tents, by the register, on the community board. If you already print a QR code for your menu, put the Wi-Fi code right next to it.
• Guest rooms and rentals. Framed on the nightstand or tucked into the welcome binder. Guests join before they've even unpacked, and nobody texts you at 11pm asking for the password.
• Offices. Reception for visitors, meeting rooms for people hopping on the guest network.
• Events. One code on the welcome sign beats repeating the password over a microphone.

The honest security note

I want to be straight with you about one thing: the password is in the printed code. Anyone who can photograph the code can read the password out of it, exactly like the chalkboard behind the bar. A Wi-Fi QR code is a convenience, not a lock.

So use it for networks you already share openly. A guest network is ideal: most routers can run one alongside your main network, and it keeps visitors off the network your own devices live on. Don't print a code for your private home or office network unless you'd be comfortable writing that password on the wall, because that's effectively what you're doing.

One genuine security bonus of this tool: everything happens in your browser. Your network name and password never touch a server, mine or anyone else's. The code is built on your machine and the credentials go nowhere.

Change the password, reprint the code

A static code can't be edited after printing. The credentials are baked into the pattern, so if you rotate your Wi-Fi password, the old code is done. The fix is not complicated: make a new code and reprint it. It takes two minutes.

That trade is worth it. No subscription, no account, no vendor that has to stay in business, and nothing that expires on its own. The only thing that ever kills the code is you changing the password, and you're in charge of when that happens.

When you do print, size matters less here than for a poster, since Wi-Fi codes get scanned from a foot away. Something in the 1.2 to 2 inch range is plenty. If you want the full numbers, I put them in the QR print size guide.

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