When you point your iPhone camera at a QR code, it can show "QR Code Detected" and then "No usable data found" instead of opening anything. Here is what that means, which codes cause it and how to get the code to work.
Your camera is fine: the message means it found and read the code. What it could not do is open what was inside. Most of the time the code belongs to one particular app, such as an authenticator, a health pass or a sign-in screen, and has to be scanned from inside that app. Check what the code holds below to find out which one.
What "No usable data found" means
A QR code only holds text. When the Camera reads one, it looks at that text to decide what to offer: a website opens in Safari, a WiFi code offers to join the network, a phone number offers a call. When the text is something it has no action for, it shows "No usable data found" instead.
The usual reason is a link meant for one specific app. If that app is not installed, or the link is in a format the Camera does not pass on, there is nowhere to send it. A maintainer of the Expo app toolkit explains the message the same way: it appears when no installed app can handle the link in the code. Developers working on digital health cards ran into it too, with vaccination codes the Camera did not recognize.
So the message rarely means the code is broken. It means the Camera is the wrong reader for this code.
Codes that usually cause it
- Authenticator and two-factor setup codes. Work or school sign-in codes, such as the ones for Microsoft Authenticator, are made to be scanned from inside the authenticator app.
- Health and vaccination passes. SMART Health Cards, whose text starts with shc:/, and COVID certificates in the EU format, including the NHS COVID Pass, whose text starts with HC1:, are read by health and verifier apps rather than the Camera.
- Sign-in codes on a computer or TV. Codes such as the ones on WhatsApp Web and Signal Desktop are scanned from inside the app on your phone, under Linked devices. Signal's own help page names this message as the sign of scanning with the wrong app.
- Payment codes. UPI codes and crypto wallet addresses need a payment or wallet app to open them.
- Shop and checkout codes. Some coupon and loyalty codes are made for the shop's own checkout scanner, not for a phone. Square's coupon codes are one example.
- eSIM codes on a phone without eSIM. An eSIM code can only be used by a phone that supports eSIM. On an older phone, there is nothing for the Camera to do with it.
- Links for an app you do not have. Many apps make codes that only open in themselves, from parking and ride apps to developer test builds. Without the app, the Camera has nothing to open.
- Codes with broken contents. A link with spaces or missing parts, or a code that holds nothing at all.
How to fix it, in order
1. Scan it from inside the app it was made for
Look at what surrounds the code: the poster, email, letter or screen usually names the app. Open that app and use its own scan button, often found under Add, Add account, Link a device or a camera icon. This fixes most cases.
2. Install the app, or sign in to it
If the code opens a specific app and that app is not on your phone, the Camera cannot open it either. Install the app the code came with, sign in, then scan the code again.
3. Check what is inside the code
Not sure which app it is for? Screenshot the code and add it to the checker at the top of this page. It shows the text inside and, for the common types, which app opens it. Our QR code reader works for any kind of code, and an eSIM code can be added by hand with the eSIM QR code reader.
4. Remove an old version first
Some apps refuse a new code while an old one is still saved. One iPhone owner cleared this message on a vaccination code by deleting the old certificate from the app before scanning the new one.
5. Ask for a new code
If the checker shows a web link with spaces or missing parts, or an empty code, the code itself is wrong and no phone will open it. Only whoever made it can fix that, so ask them for a new one.
Is it a camera problem?
Almost never. "No usable data found" only appears after the iPhone has found and read a code, which shows the camera and the code scanning setting are working. If your iPhone does nothing at all when you point it at a code, that is a different problem: check that Scan QR Codes is turned on in Settings, Camera, and see our QR code not scanning fixes.
Made the code yourself?
If people tell you your code shows this message, the link inside it is the problem:
- Put a full web address in the code, starting with https://. A web page opens on every phone, with or without your app.
- A link that opens your app only works for people who have it installed. Send everyone else to a web page instead; on iPhone, universal links open the app when it is there and the web page when it is not.
- If you rename your app or change its link, codes printed with the old link stop working. That is what happened in the Expo case above.
- Check the code with the checker on this page before you print it.
Questions people ask
Does "No usable data found" mean the QR code is broken?
Usually not. The iPhone found and read the code; it just had nothing to open it with. Scan it from inside the app it was made for, or check what it holds with the checker on this page.
Why does the code work on Android but not on my iPhone?
Many Android scanner apps show the raw text of any code they read, while the iPhone Camera only acts on content it knows how to open. The code is the same on both phones; the iPhone simply has no action for what is inside it.
What does "QR Code Detected" mean?
That the iPhone found a QR code in view and read it. When "No usable data found" follows, the reading worked, but the contents are not something the phone can open.
How do I scan an authenticator or two-factor QR code on iPhone?
Open the authenticator app first, such as Microsoft Authenticator, Google Authenticator or the one your organization uses. Tap its add or + button and scan the code from inside the app, not with the Camera.
Why does my NHS or vaccination QR code say no usable data found?
Health passes hold an encoded certificate, not a web link, and the Camera is not built to read them. Open the code in the app that issued it or in a verifier app. If you are replacing an older pass, delete the old one from the app first.
Can I see what is inside the code without the app?
Yes. Take a screenshot or photo of the code and add it to the checker on this page. It reads the code in your browser and shows the text inside, without uploading the image.
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