How to turn text into a QR code
- 1
Write your message
Type or paste your text above. The preview gets denser as you type, so keep it short.
- 2
Style and frame it
Choose dark, high-contrast colours and add a frame that hints at what people will find, like “Scan for the clue”.
- 3
Download and test
Scan it with an iPhone and an Android phone to see how the text appears on each.
How a text QR code works
The text is stored directly inside the code. When someone scans it, their phone shows the message and, depending on the phone, offers to copy it or search the web for it. Nothing is loaded from the internet, so a text QR code works in basements, on planes and in places with no signal. It never expires, because there is nothing to expire.
How much text fits?
The largest QR code can hold about 2,900 characters of ordinary text, or up to 7,089 digits if the content is numbers only. In practice, keep it much shorter. Every extra character adds modules, and a dense code has to be printed larger and scanned in good light.
For a code that must scan quickly from a printout, aim for under 300 characters. If you need more, put the text on a web page and use a URL QR code instead.
Other languages and emoji work too. Hindi, Arabic, Chinese and emoji are stored as UTF-8, where each character takes 2–4 bytes instead of one, so fewer of them fit. A few very old scanner apps show garbled characters, so test with the phones your audience uses.
Ideas for text QR codes
- Treasure hunts and escape rooms: each code reveals the next clue.
- Museum, garden and zoo labels: a short description in a second language.
- Equipment and asset labels: serial and model numbers, service notes and part codes.
- Classrooms: answers, vocabulary lists or quiz questions students can check themselves.
- Gifts and greeting cards: a hidden message the recipient unlocks with a scan.
- Offline instructions: set-up steps in places where there’s no WiFi yet.
Text or link?
Choose text when the message is short, won’t change, and must work without internet.
Choose a link when you want formatting, images, or more than a few sentences, or when you might need to update the words later with a dynamic QR code. Text codes can’t be tracked either: phones display the text without contacting any server, so nobody, including us, knows how often they’re scanned.
Keep it readable
- Put the most important words first. Some phones show only the first line or two in a pop-up.
- Avoid long runs of symbols or pasted formatting. Plain sentences display cleanly everywhere.
- Print the code at least 2.5 cm wide for short messages, and larger as the text grows. If the preview looks crowded, shorten the message rather than shrinking the code.
Privacy
Anyone who scans the code can read the text, so don’t put passwords, bank details or personal information in it unless that is the point. QRStitch creates the code in your browser: your text isn’t uploaded or stored.