QR Now!

Create QR Codes Instantly

Free, fast, and unlimited. No registration required.

Generate QR codes for URLs, text, WiFi networks, contact cards and more.

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QR Code Generator

Enter any website URL

Your QR code will appear here

How It Works

1

Choose Type

Select the QR code type: URL, text, WiFi, contact card, email or phone.

2

Enter Content

Fill in the required information and click "Generate QR Code".

3

Download

Download your QR code as PNG or SVG. Print or share it anywhere!

QR Code Types Explained

Learn about different QR code types and their uses

🔗 URL QR Codes

The most common type. When scanned, it opens a website directly in the browser. Perfect for business cards, flyers, product packaging, and marketing materials.

📶 WiFi QR Codes

Share your WiFi credentials instantly. Guests scan the code and connect automatically without typing the password. Great for cafes, hotels, offices and home.

👤 vCard QR Codes

Digital business cards. Contains name, phone, email, company info. When scanned, saves contact directly to phone. Essential for networking events.

📝 Text QR Codes

Store plain text, notes, or messages. Useful for instructions, serial numbers, inventory codes, or any text information up to 4,296 characters.

✉️ Email QR Codes

Opens email app with pre-filled recipient, subject and message. Perfect for customer support, feedback forms, or quick contact options.

📞 Phone QR Codes

One scan to make a call. Opens the phone dialer with your number ready. Ideal for emergency contacts, customer service, or business hotlines.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a QR code?

A QR (Quick Response) code is a two-dimensional barcode that can store various types of data. When scanned with a smartphone camera, it instantly triggers an action like opening a website, showing text, or connecting to WiFi.

Is QR Now! really free?

Yes! QR Now! is 100% free with no hidden costs. Generate unlimited QR codes, download in any format, no registration required. We sustain the service through minimal, non-intrusive advertising.

Do QR codes expire?

Static QR codes (like the ones created here) never expire. They contain the data directly encoded in the pattern. As long as the destination URL exists, the QR code will work forever.

What size should I print my QR code?

The minimum recommended size is 2x2 cm (0.8x0.8 inches) for close-range scanning. For billboards or posters viewed from distance, use the formula: scanning distance ÷ 10 = minimum QR size.

PNG vs SVG - which format should I use?

Use PNG for digital use (websites, social media, emails). Use SVG for print materials as it's vector-based and can be scaled to any size without losing quality.

How much data can a QR code store?

A QR code can store up to 7,089 numeric characters, 4,296 alphanumeric characters, or 2,953 bytes of binary data. However, more data means a more complex (and harder to scan) QR code.

The History of QR Codes

From Japanese car factories to global phenomenon

🇯🇵 The Inventor: Masahiro Hara

The QR code was invented in 1994 by Masahiro Hara, an engineer at Denso Wave, a subsidiary of Toyota. The challenge? Traditional barcodes could only store about 20 characters — far too limited for tracking automotive parts through complex manufacturing processes.

Hara and his team spent 18 months developing a two-dimensional code that could store over 100 times more data than conventional barcodes. Inspired by the black and white stones on a Go board, they created a square matrix pattern that could be read from any angle at high speed.

The name "QR" stands for "Quick Response" — reflecting the code's ability to be decoded almost instantaneously. Denso Wave made the brilliant decision to release the technology without exercising their patent rights, allowing anyone to use QR codes freely.

📅 Key Milestones

  • 1994: QR code invented by Denso Wave
  • 2000: Adopted as ISO international standard
  • 2002: First mobile phones with QR readers in Japan
  • 2011: 14 million Americans scan a QR code
  • 2017: Apple adds native QR scanning to iOS camera
  • 2020: COVID-19 accelerates global QR adoption

🔧 Technical Innovation

  • • Three finder patterns enable 360° reading
  • • Reed-Solomon error correction recovers damaged codes
  • • Up to 30% of the code can be damaged and still work
  • • 40 different versions with varying data capacities
  • • Can encode numeric, alphanumeric, binary, and Kanji
  • • Scanned 10x faster than traditional barcodes

🌍 QR Codes Today

Today, QR codes are everywhere: restaurant menus, payment systems (especially in China where WeChat Pay processes billions of transactions), boarding passes, COVID vaccination certificates, museum exhibits, product packaging, and digital business cards. In 2022 alone, over 6.8 billion QR code scans were recorded worldwide.

Masahiro Hara received the European Inventor Award in 2014 for his creation. What started as a solution for tracking car parts has become one of the most ubiquitous technologies of the 21st century — connecting the physical and digital worlds with a simple scan.

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