Does a Wi-Fi QR code expire?

No. The network name and password are written into the code. It keeps working until you change the network name or password.

Do I need internet for a Wi-Fi QR code to work?

No. The phone reads the network details straight from the code, then joins.

MAKEABARCODE.ORG

Wi-Fi QR Code Generator

Type your network name and password. Guests point their phone camera at the code and join, no typing. The code never expires, and the password never leaves your browser.

Your link

Paste the final address of your page, not a short link from a QR or link service.

copies

This code never expires

What you type goes into the squares themselves. There is no short link, no account and nothing on our server between your code and your page, so there is nothing anyone can switch off. It works for as long as the page or details in it do.

Size & look

Printed width

Scanned from about

Squares

Background

Words under the code (optional) Logo in the middle (optional)

More settings

Error correction

We raise it for free when it fits without making the code bigger.

Blank border (quiet zone)

Will it scan?

Why some QR codes stop working

A QR code is ink. It can’t expire. What expires is a service sitting between the ink and your page.

Static code

what this page makes

📱 scan→yourcafe.com/menu

“Dynamic” code

most sign-up generators

📱 scan→qr-service.example/a8Xkon while the account is paid→yourcafe.com/menu

The short link is the catch

A dynamic code holds the service’s address, not yours. That lets you change the destination and count scans, but every printed copy now depends on that account staying open.

Shorter link, bigger squares

The more a code holds, the more squares it needs, and at the same printed size each square gets smaller. A short, clean address on your own website reads fastest.

Test before you print 500

Every code here is scanned back in your browser before you download it. Still, print one, and scan it with two different phones at the distance people will really stand.

How a Wi-Fi QR code works

The code holds a short line of text in a format phones understand: the network name, the type of security and the password, like WIFI:T:WPA;S:Cafe Guest;P:espresso123;;. The camera app on iPhone and Android reads it and offers to join. Nothing is looked up online, so it works even before the phone is connected.

Good to know

Anyone who can see the code can join. Use your guest network if you have one, and print the code where only guests will see it.
If you change the password, make a new code. The old password is printed in the old code.
Network names are case-sensitive. Type it exactly as it appears in your phone’s Wi-Fi list.
WPA covers WPA2 and WPA3. Pick WEP only for very old routers, and None for an open network.

Want a code for a link, a contact card or a phone number instead? Use the QR code generator.