Tool 4.8

QR code reader: scan from an image or camera

Read a QR code from a photo, screenshot or camera and see what it contains, including who a payment QR pays. Decoded in your browser; nothing is uploaded.

Runs on your deviceRuns entirely in your browser: nothing you type or upload leaves your device.

How to use it

Drop a screenshot or photo that contains a QR code, or press Scan with camera.
Read the decoded content, shown as plain text.
If it is a link, check where it really goes with the link checker before opening it.

QR codes worth reading before you act

Typical ones: payment QR codes at a shop counter or on a delivery, codes on parking meters, restaurant menus, flyers and posters with discounts, and QR images that someone sends you on WhatsApp. Reading the code here shows you what it contains before your phone does anything with it: a link, a payment, a Wi-Fi network, a contact, a phone number or a text message.

It also works with screenshots, so you can read a code that's on your own phone's screen without a second phone. Keep one rule in mind: scanning a payment QR sends money from you. To receive money, you show your code and the other person scans it, so nobody needs you to scan a code in order to pay you.

A sticker over the bakery's payment QR

At a neighborhood bakery, the payment QR by the till looks like a sticker stuck on top of another one. Take a photo and drop it here. The result reads “This QR pays: Pepito Pérez, Bogotá”, with the currency COP, the country Colombia, the payment network and the account or ID, and a green line saying the checksum is valid.

The name is what matters: a bakery's code should name the bakery, not a person you've never heard of. Don't pay, and tell the staff. The valid checksum only proves the code isn't damaged; a scammer's own code passes that check too. If the checksum fails, the code was damaged or edited, and you shouldn't pay with it either. Before confirming any payment, compare this name with the one your payment app shows.

Blurry photos, several codes and other formats

It reads QR codes only, not barcodes. Blurry, tiny or very tilted codes may not read: crop the photo so the code fills most of it, because on browsers without a built-in detector large images are scaled down before decoding. With several codes in one image, some browsers read all of them and others only one.

The merchant name comes from the code itself, so it's whatever the person who made the code wrote. Payment codes are read in detail when they follow the EMVCo standard that many banks and wallets use (they start with 000201); other formats show up as plain text. And a link that looks normal can still lead somewhere bad: check it with the short link expander before opening it.

FAQ

Does it work in every browser?

In current browsers, yes. It uses the browser's built-in QR detector where there is one (Android, Mac, ChromeOS) and otherwise a QR decoder served by this site, which also runs on your device. The camera option needs a browser that allows camera access.

How do I see the Wi-Fi password in a QR code?

Drop a photo or screenshot of the Wi-Fi code here. The reader shows the network name, the type of security and the password, with a button to copy the password, without joining the network.

A payment QR shows a person's name, not the shop's. Is it fake?

Not necessarily. Small shops sometimes receive payments in the owner's personal account, so the name can be the owner's. Ask at the counter whose name it should be, and compare it with the name your payment app shows before you confirm. A name nobody in the shop recognizes, or a sticker over another code, is the reason not to pay.

How do I know if a payment QR code is fake?

Scan it here and read who it pays: the merchant name must match the shop you are in. We also verify the code's checksum, which fails if it was damaged or edited. If the QR looks like a sticker placed over another one, ask the shop before paying.

Can scanning a QR code hack my phone?

Reading the code only gives you text. The risk is in what happens next: opening a link to a fake page, installing an app, joining a Wi-Fi network or paying. This reader never does any of that on its own; it shows the content and lets you decide.

Guides for this tool

G16How to tell if a payment QR code is fake before you paySpot payment QR codes pasted over a shop's code or sent by chat, see who a QR really pays, check the name in your app, and what to do if you paid.
G23Nequi or Daviplata account stolen? What to do nowHow Nequi and Daviplata accounts get stolen with fake support, code requests and SIM swaps, how to block yours fast, and the one rule that prevents it.

4.1QR code generatorMake free static QR codes for links, Wi-Fi, WhatsApp, contacts, email and SMS.
4.2Word counterCount words, characters (with and without spaces), sentences and paragraphs as you type.
4.3Listen to textHear any text, or a TXT, PDF or Word file, read aloud by your device's own voices.
4.4Case converterConvert text to UPPERCASE, lowercase, Title Case, Sentence case, camelCase, PascalCase, snake_case, kebab-case or CONSTANT_CASE, in your browser.
4.5Compare textsPaste two versions of a text and see every added and removed line highlighted, with the changed words marked.
4.6Remove duplicate linesRemove duplicate lines from any list, sort A–Z or Z–A (natural order too), trim spaces and delete empty lines.
4.7Lorem ipsumGenerate lorem ipsum placeholder text by paragraphs, sentences or words, in classic Latin or a Spanish-looking style with accents and ñ.

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