Making a QR code for a link
Last updated 2026-11-02
Most QR codes are just a web address. Someone scans it, the phone shows the link, they tap it, and the page opens. It saves typing a URL on a phone keyboard, which nobody enjoys.
The code itself is simple. The mistakes are almost all in what goes into it.
Paste the full address
Use the whole URL, starting with https://. Copy it from the browser's address bar rather than typing it.
Without the scheme, example.com/menu is just text. Most camera apps will still guess that it is a link, but some will show it as plain text or offer to search for it instead. With https:// in front there is nothing to guess.
Then open the link you pasted in a private browser window. If it asks you to log in, it will ask everyone who scans it too. Shared document links are the usual culprit here: check the sharing setting before you print.
Shorter is better
Every character goes into the grid. A short URL makes a coarse code with big squares, and big squares scan from further away and survive a cheap printer. A long URL with tracking parameters makes a dense code that needs to be printed larger to work as well.
- Strip anything after a
?that you do not need. Links copied from search results, social media and shops often carry long tracking strings. - Link to the page you want, not to a redirect chain that ends there.
- If the address is long and you cannot change it, an editable short link puts a short address in the code instead.
There is more on how length affects the grid in QR code versions explained.
Making it here
- Leave the type on Text/URL.
- Paste the address into the text box.
- Pick PNG for screens or SVG for print. PNG or SVG covers the difference.
- Generate, then scan the result with your own phone before using it anywhere.
A plain link code like this is static. The address lives in the image, nothing passes through sobog.com when it is scanned, and it keeps working for as long as the page it points to exists. The flip side is that you cannot change it. If the page moves, the code is dead.
Test it where it will live
Scan a printout, not the screen you made it on. Try it at the distance and angle people will actually use, in the lighting it will actually have. If it is going on a poster across a room, minimum size for a QR code has the numbers. If it will not scan at all, start with why your QR code will not scan.