qr code decoder

How to read a QR code on your computer

1. Open the side panel. Click the qr code decoder icon or press Alt+Shift+Q. The panel opens on the right and reads every code on the visible part of the page.
2. Not on the page? Press Ctrl+V to paste a screenshot, drop image files, or open the camera. For a small code, choose Select area and drag over it.
3. Use the result. Each code becomes a card with the right buttons: open or copy a link, copy a Wi-Fi password, save a contact.

No phone, no app to install on your phone, no upload.

A QR code scanner for your screen

QR codes turn up on web pages, in PDFs, in videos, in chats and in online meetings — and on a computer you would normally need to point your phone at your own screen. qr code decoder reads them right in Chrome.

The side panel reads the page live. Keep it open: scroll or switch tabs, and new codes appear by themselves. Codes you have scrolled past stay under Earlier on this page. Pause live reading with one button, or press Read again.

At first the panel reads the tab where you clicked the icon. To let it follow you to every tab, press Allow once — on the welcome page or in the panel. This permission is optional; see the privacy policy for what it means.

Read a QR code from an image or a screenshot

• Paste a screenshot. Take a screenshot (Win+Shift+S or Cmd+Shift+4) and press Ctrl+V in the panel or on the app page. A picture copied in another app works too.
• Open image files. Drop pictures on the app page or choose them — several at once. PNG, JPG, WebP, GIF, BMP and SVG.
• Right-click an image on a web page and choose Read QR code in this image.
• Use the camera. Hold a printed code in front of your webcam; the camera tab finds it on its own.

Every code in the picture is found at once, including small, inverted and rotated ones. If a single code is found in a picture, a screenshot or an area, its link, text or Wi-Fi password can be copied to the clipboard automatically (2FA keys never are).

Select an area for small codes

A tiny code in the corner of a page? Press Alt+Shift+A — or choose Select area in the panel or in the right-click menu — and drag a rectangle over it. The area is read up close.

Which codes it reads

QR Code, Micro QR, rMQR, Data Matrix, Aztec, PDF417 and MaxiCode, and the barcodes EAN-13, EAN-8, UPC-A, UPC-E, Code 128, Code 39, Code 93, Codabar, ITF and DataBar. The decoder (zxing-cpp) is built into the extension.

Smart results: what is inside the code

qr code decoder doesn't just extract the text from a QR code — it recognises what it is and gives you the buttons you need:

Want to change a code you have read? Edit as new QR opens its content in the QR code generator.

Check a link before you open it

qr code decoder never opens a link by itself. Before you click Open link, it warns you if:

• the link uses http instead of https;
• the address contains look-alike letters from other alphabets;
• the link goes to a bare IP address instead of a site name;
• it is a short link that hides the real address;
• the address contains a name and “@”, so the real site is the part after “@”.

Codes in e-mails, on parking meters and on posters are sometimes used for phishing — check the site name first.

Create a QR code

Turn text into a QR code in seconds. Make a code for a link, text, a Wi-Fi network, a contact, an e-mail, an SMS or a phone number. By default the generator makes a code for the page you are on.

• Design: your colors or a gradient, a transparent background, square, rounded or dot modules, square, rounded or circle corners, and a logo in the middle.
• Error correction: L, M, Q or H — choose a higher level when you add a logo.
• Download a PNG from 512 to 4096 px or an SVG, or copy the image.
• Checked: every code you create is read back by the decoder, so you see “Checked: reads correctly” before you print it.

Right-click selected text, a link or a page and choose Create QR code to make one straight away. The codes are free, without limits, and they do not expire.

History

The last 500 codes you scanned and created are kept in this browser: search them, filter scanned or created ones, open a card again or export the list as CSV. You can turn history off in the settings.

Private and offline

Online QR code readers ask you to upload your image to their server. qr code decoder works the other way round: the decoder and the generator are built into the extension, so screenshots, photos and camera frames are read on your computer and never uploaded. It works without an internet connection, needs no account and shows no ads. The screen is captured only while the side panel is open, or when you use the menu or a shortcut. Details are in the privacy policy.

QR codes in PDFs

The side panel reads QR codes in PDFs open in Chrome's PDF viewer, just like on a web page. For PDF and image files opened from your computer, turn on Allow access to file URLs for the extension — the panel shows the button. Chrome doesn't let extensions see a few pages, such as its settings and the Chrome Web Store; there, take a screenshot and press Ctrl+V.

What's new in version 2

Version 1 read one QR code from an area you selected. Version 2 reads every code on the screen in a side panel that stays open, adds barcodes, screenshots, image files, the camera, smart results, link checks, the QR code generator with design options and history, a light and a dark theme. It asks for no new warnings when it updates; reading every tab is an optional extra you can allow.

Product facts

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