Phone QR Code Generator
One scan, and your number is dialled.
Enter the number below. Scanning opens the phone's dialler with it already entered, so calling you takes one tap instead of eleven digits typed by someone standing in a car park.
Customize
Scanning opens the phone's default maps app centered on this point.
The end time must be after the start time.
Leave the date blank to preview with a sample event. Defaults to a 1-hour event if no end time is set.
We tested this against a real scanner: codes start failing between 16% and 20% of the area, so 15% is the safe ceiling. How we measured it.
Pick a preset to fill in the dot and background colors below, or skip this and choose your own.
Light backgroundsLight dots read fine on dark backgrounds on screen, but most scanners are tuned for dark-on-light -- test before printing at volume. Scan reliability tips.
This content is too long to encode in a QR code. Shorten it before downloading or saving. Why there's a limit.
These colors are close in tone and may be hard for some scanners to read. Consider more contrast. Choosing colors that scan.
Preview
Dynamic QR codes redirect to a web address, so they're available for the URL and WhatsApp types. Other types encode their content directly and can't be repointed later.
Generated in your browser — nothing is uploaded or saved.
The toughest code you can print
A phone number is a very small amount of data, and that has a direct physical consequence: the grid is coarse, the modules are large, and the finished code tolerates abuse that would kill a denser one.
That matters because of where these end up. A phone code lives outdoors, on equipment, on vehicles, in weather — surfaces that scuff, fade, get rained on and get scanned from four feet away by someone in a hurry. A vCard code in that position would be marginal. This one keeps working.
Use the headroom deliberately: print it larger than you think you need for the reading distance, and it will survive a couple of years of sun and grime. See the sizing guide for the distance-to-size relationship, and curved surfaces if it is going on a pipe, bottle or vehicle panel.
International format, always
Write the number as +, country code, then the number — +1 555 123 4567. Spaces, brackets and dashes are stripped automatically, so type it however is easiest to proofread.
A local-format number is not a smaller problem than it sounds. It works perfectly for people already in that country and fails for everyone else, which means it fails precisely for the visitors, tourists and out-of-area customers a scannable number was supposed to help. On anything that travels — packaging, livery, a trade stand, a website — international format is not optional.
Where a dialler beats everything else
Service and repair stickers on machinery, taxi and delivery signage, after-hours and emergency contact cards, estate agent boards, vehicle livery, lift and plant-room notices, parking enforcement signs.
The common thread is urgency plus bad conditions. Someone is standing up, outdoors, possibly in the dark, possibly with a broken boiler in front of them, and the task is "reach a human now". Those are exactly the conditions in which a mistyped digit is most likely and least forgivable.
It is also the right choice when the alternative is a website. Nobody with a flooding kitchen wants to navigate a contact page.
When to reach for SMS instead
Use a phone code when someone is genuinely there to answer and a conversation is the fastest resolution. Use an SMS code when enquiries arrive outside working hours, when you want a written record, or when your audience would simply rather not call — which, for a large and growing share of people, is the case.
Plenty of printed material carries both, labelled, and lets the person choose. That costs a few square centimetres and removes the guess entirely.
Frequently asked questions
Does scanning place the call automatically?
No. It opens the dialler with the number filled in and the person taps to call. No phone will dial from a scanned code without confirmation — that is a deliberate safety behaviour, and a good one.
Can I include an extension?
There is no reliable cross-platform way to do it. Extension syntax varies between phone systems and is handled inconsistently by handsets. Encode the main number and print the extension in text beside the code.
Will it work on a tablet or laptop?
It depends entirely on the device. Something without calling capability may offer to place the call through a linked phone or an internet-calling app, or may do nothing. Design for phones and treat anything else as a bonus.
Can I change the number later?
Not on a printed code — the number is in the pattern. If the number is likely to change, or if you want to know how many people are calling from which sign, point a dynamic code at a page that carries the number instead. You lose the one-tap dial and gain the ability to edit and count.