A QR code scanner reads the data inside a QR and shows you the text, usually a link. This free scanner runs in your browser: point your camera at a code or upload a screenshot, and it decodes on your device. You always get a Copy button, and an Open button appears only when the result is a link, so nothing opens on its own.
Point a QR code at the camera, or upload an image.
A QR can point anywhere. Check the address before you open it, and watch for lookalike or shortened links.
Tap Start camera and allow access, then aim at the code. No camera on this device or browser? Upload a screenshot or photo of the QR instead.
Keep the whole QR inside the box, steady and in focus. It decodes the moment the pattern locks in, on your device, with nothing sent anywhere.
The decoded text shows below. If it is a link, check the domain first, then use Copy or Open. The scanner never opens a link on its own.
This scanner uses two things your browser already has. For live scanning it opens the camera with the getUserMedia API and reads each frame with the BarcodeDetector API, the barcode reader built into Chrome-based browsers. For a still image, it runs that same reader on the photo or screenshot you upload. Both paths run on your device: no frame, no photo, and no decoded text ever leaves your browser or reaches our server. That is why it keeps working with the network off once the page has loaded, and why the result is yours alone.
A QR code is not magic. It is just text encoded as a grid of squares, and that text can point anywhere. Scanning one is safe. Opening what it contains is where people get caught. The scam has a name now, quishing (QR phishing): a sticker slapped over a real parking-meter code, a fake code on a flyer, a code in an email that sends you to a login page built to steal your password. So this tool shows you the decoded URL and stops there. It never opens anything for you. Before you tap Open, read the domain left to right and confirm it is the site you expect. Watch for lookalikes (paypa1.com with a one, or micros0ft.com with a zero) and for shortened links that hide the real destination. If a code turns up somewhere it has no reason to be, or the link asks you to log in or pay, treat it the way you would treat a suspicious email.
In-page scanning needs the BarcodeDetector API, and support is uneven. Live camera scanning works in Chrome and Edge on desktop and in Chrome on Android. Safari and Firefox on desktop do not ship BarcodeDetector yet, so the camera button may not decode there. Two fallbacks cover that. On an iPhone or iPad you do not need this page at all: the built-in Camera app scans any QR and shows the link as a banner, so just point it at the code. On desktop Safari or Firefox, either switch to Chrome or Edge or scan the code with your phone's camera. The image-upload option here uses the same BarcodeDetector API, so it decodes in Chrome and Edge (handy on a machine with no webcam) but not in Safari or Firefox. If your browser cannot decode at all, the page tells you instead of failing quietly.
Most QR codes hold a web link, but not all. The same square can carry plain text, a WiFi login (network name, password, and security type), contact details as a vCard, an email address, a phone number, or a payment string. This scanner shows you the raw decoded text for every type, always with a Copy button, and adds an Open button only when the content is a link, since those are the ones worth opening in a browser. For anything else, copy the text and use it wherever you need it. Seeing the raw contents is also the safe move: you find out exactly what a code says before anything acts on it.
This tool reads codes. To make one, Whooshly builds dynamic QR codes that point at a short link you own, so you can re-point a printed code to a new page anytime and count every scan by day, country, and device. Static codes are free to generate too. One-time $49, no subscription.
Yes, it is free with no signup. Nothing is uploaded. The camera feed and any image you choose are decoded in your browser on your own device, and no frame, photo, or decoded result is sent to our server. Once the page has loaded you can even scan with the network turned off.
Use the upload option instead of the camera. Pick a photo or screenshot that shows the whole QR code, reasonably sharp and not cut off at the edges. The scanner decodes it on your device and shows the text. Upload uses the same in-page reader as the camera, so it works in Chrome and Edge (handy on a desktop with no webcam or when you already have a saved image); on Safari or Firefox, scan with your phone instead.
Because in-page scanning relies on the browser's BarcodeDetector API, which Safari and desktop Firefox do not support yet. That is the real limit of this tool. On an iPhone or iPad, open the built-in Camera app and point it at the code; it scans QRs natively and shows the link. On desktop Safari or Firefox, switch to Chrome or Edge, or scan the code with your phone (the image-upload option here needs the same API, so it won't decode in Safari or Firefox either).
Scanning is safe. A QR is only encoded text, and reading it does nothing on its own. The risk is in what you do next. A code can point to a phishing site, a scam called quishing, so this tool shows you the decoded link and never opens it for you. Read the domain, watch for lookalike spellings and shortened links, and only open codes you have a reason to trust.
Yes, once the page has loaded. All decoding happens in your browser, so after the page is open you can scan with the network off. The only parts that need a connection are loading the page itself and, if you choose to, opening a link the code contains.
Buy Whooshly once and own your campaign links for good.