To scan a QR code online, you need a QR code scanner that runs in the browser instead of an app - this page is one. Use your webcam or phone camera to scan a printed code, or upload a screenshot to read a code that's already on your screen. Either way EZQR decodes the code on your device and shows you the link - so you can check a QR code before you tap through.
How to Scan QR Code Online (Without an App)
- Start the scanner. Click Scan with camera to use your webcam or phone camera, or Upload image / paste a screenshot to read a code that's already on screen.
- EZQR reads the code. It finds and decodes the QR code and shows you the exact link or text it contains - copy it with one click.
- Open, copy, or save. Follow the link, copy it, or download a fresh QR code as PNG, JPG, or SVG - or add a logo, color, or shape.
How to Scan a QR Code on PC, Laptop, or Desktop
To scan a QR code on a computer, open this page in any browser and either use your webcam or paste a screenshot of the code - no phone, app, or download needed. It works the same on a Windows PC, a Mac, a Chromebook, or Linux, in Chrome, Edge, Safari, or Firefox.
With your webcam
Click Scan with camera and allow camera access. Hold the printed code about 20-30 cm (8-12 in) from your laptop or desktop webcam - most built-in webcams have fixed focus, so closer is blurrier, not better. The scanner reads the code from the webcam feed and shows you the link before anything opens.
Without a camera: scan a QR code on your screen
If the QR code is already on your screen - in an email, a PDF, a web page, a Teams or Slack message - you don't need a camera at all. Screenshot just the code straight to your clipboard, then press Ctrl+V (or Cmd+V) anywhere on this page and the scanner reads it:
- Windows 10 and 11: Windows+Shift+S, then drag around the code.
- Mac: Cmd+Ctrl+Shift+4, then drag around the code. (Cmd+Shift+4 without Ctrl saves a file to your desktop instead - upload that.)
- Chromebook: Ctrl+Shift+Show windows, then select the code; paste it, or upload the saved screenshot.
- Already have the image? Drag the file onto the scanner or click Upload image.
That makes this a QR code screenshot scanner as much as a webcam one: whatever is on your monitor, you can read it on the same computer, with no second device.
Online QR Code Scanner and QR Reader - Any Way You Need
Scan with your camera
Use your webcam or phone camera to read a printed QR code on a poster, sign, menu, or business card.
Scan a QR code on your screen
Got a code in an email, PDF, or website? Screenshot it and read it here - no second phone needed.
Check a QR code link before you open it
See exactly where a QR code points first. Check a QR code online instead of scanning an unknown code blind.
No app, no sign-up
Scan QR code online without an app - the QR reader runs in your browser on any device. Nothing to download, no account, no limits.
Works on desktop and mobile
Laptop, desktop, tablet, or phone - scan with the camera or upload an image, whatever you have.
Private by design
The camera frame or image is read on your device. Nothing is uploaded to a server.
Built to Read Codes Your Camera App Misses
On phones whose browser exposes the built-in scanner, this page uses the same scanning engine as your camera app where it's available, then adds its own. If the built-in read comes up empty, EZQR's decoder takes over: it reads codes that are tilted, rotated, small in frame, low-contrast, or hit by glare, and after a couple of seconds without a read it tries harder with a second, stronger decoder that picks up blurred, damaged, and tiny codes. Pinch or use the slider to zoom in on small codes, and tap the flashlight for dim menus and dark rooms. The whole chain is tested against more than 500 real-world photos of QR codes before any change ships.
Scan QR Codes Other Scanners Can't: Tattoos, Worn Gift Cards, and More
EZQR's scanning engine - the same one behind this page, the QR code extractor, and the QR code tester - goes well past a normal camera app. When a standard read fails, it works out what the damaged parts of the code most likely were and, wherever it can, checks the answer against the code's own built-in error correction. Two kinds of codes people regularly bring us:
QR code tattoos that won't scan
A QR code tattoo is a hard thing to scan. It wraps around a curved arm, the ink spreads a little over the years, and skin stretches the grid out of square. Phones often refuse to read one at all. EZQR has read some of these deformed tattoos, especially ones that hold a short web address, because it can straighten a bent grid and fill in modules that blurred together. Photograph the tattoo straight on, in good light, with the skin as flat as you can get it.
Damaged QR codes on Visa and other gift cards
Prepaid and gift card QR codes live hard lives: scratched in a wallet, worn at the edges, rubbed where the card was folded, or partly scraped off along with the scratch-off panel. If the QR code on your Visa gift card won't scan, try it here. The scanner has read damaged gift card QR codes that phones and store scanners rejected, and shows you what the code holds - usually a link or a number - so you can carry on with the card issuer. The image is read in your own browser and never uploaded, which matters for anything tied to a card balance.
There are limits: a QR code can only lose so much before the information is really gone, and no scanner can bring it back past that point. But it is worth a scan before you contact the issuer or write the code off.
Scanner or Extractor - Which Do You Need?
They share the same engine, so either reads your code. Reach for the scanner when you want to point a camera at a code or quickly read one and check where it goes. Reach for the QR code extractor when you have an image file of a code and want to pull the link out of it and regenerate a clean, print-ready copy.
Want a Code You Can Edit and Track?
Scanning reads codes other people made. When you make your own, a static QR code locks the link into the pattern forever. If you'd rather be able to change where it points after printing - or see how many people scan it, and where - dynamic QR codes let you swap the destination any time and track every scan without reprinting.