How to make a Wi-Fi QR code guests can scan

Updated: 2026-11-04 · AnyToolsKit

Reading a 16-character Wi-Fi password off the router sticker is a bad welcome. A Wi-Fi QR lets a guest point the camera at a card and join. iPhone and Android understand the same `WIFI:` format, and you can make one without sending the password to a website.

The string phones expect

A Wi-Fi QR is not a screenshot of the password. It is a small structured text:

WIFI:T:WPA;S:MyNetwork;P:correct-horse;H:false;;

• T — WPA (use this for WPA2 and WPA3), WEP, or nopass for an open network.
• S — the SSID, with ; , : \ " escaped.
• P — the password (omit for nopass).
• H — true if the network is hidden.

The Wi-Fi QR tool writes this for you, including the escaping.

How to make one

1. Open Wi-Fi QR.
2. Type the exact SSID (capital letters matter) and the password.
3. Leave security on WPA unless you still run WEP or an open guest LAN.
4. Tick Hidden network only if the SSID does not broadcast.
5. Download SVG for a table tent, PNG for a chat message to yourself.

Where to put it

• A card by the kettle or the till — people look there anyway.
• The fridge in a short-term rental (laminate it).
• A sticker on the underside of the router, so you can find it too.
• Not on a street-facing window unless it is a guest network you are happy for anyone to join.

If the scan does nothing

• SSID mismatch (extra space, different band name like Home-5G).
• Security set to WPA while the router is still on a corporate EAP network — those need a different login and will not join from a QR.
• An old phone whose camera app does not parse WIFI: — open a QR reader app once.