WiFi QR Code Decoder: Scan with Camera or Upload an Image

Scan a WiFi QR code and see the password

Point your camera at a WiFi QR code, or upload a picture of one, and this reads the network name (SSID), password and security type in plain text. You can also paste the raw WIFI: text if you already have it. No app, no login, and nothing leaves your device.

How the WiFi QR Decoder Works

• Paste the QR text: scan the code with your phone, copy the raw text, and paste it here. Or upload an image and the decoder reads it directly.
• Parser extracts the fields: the decoder splits the WIFI: format string into SSID, password, and security type (WPA2, WEP, nopass).
• Copy what you need: grab just the password, just the SSID, or all fields at once.

What Is a WiFi QR Code?

A WiFi QR code stores your network credentials in a standard format: WIFI:T:WPA;S:YourNetwork;P:YourPassword;;. Most routers and phones generate them automatically. Scanning one connects a device without typing anything, but if you need the actual password text, a WiFi QR decoder like this one pulls it out.

Common Use Cases

• You have the QR code printed but need the password to type on a device that won't scan
• You want to share your WiFi password with a guest who needs it in text form
• You forgot your password but still have the QR code sticker
• You need to verify the SSID or security type stored in the QR code

What this WiFi QR code decoder does

Paste the raw text or upload an image, and this WiFi QR code decoder prints the network name and the password as readable text. It runs entirely in your browser, so nothing you decode is uploaded or stored anywhere.

People arrive looking for the same thing under different names: a WiFi decoder, a WiFi password decoder, or a QR code decoder for WiFi password. They all describe one job, which is reading the text inside the code instead of acting on it. A phone camera does the opposite, joining the network and never showing you the characters.

How to get the WiFi password from a QR code

1. Have the code as an image or text. A screenshot, a photo of a printed card, or the raw WIFI: string if you already have it.
2. Drop it in above. Upload the image, or paste the text into the box.
3. Read the fields. The network name and password appear immediately, along with the security type.

That is the whole process to get the password from a QR code. There is no account, no upload and no waiting, because the work happens on your own device.

The situation this tool solves

You scanned a WiFi QR code, from a router sticker, a cafe table tent, a hotel welcome card, and instead of connecting, your phone showed a wall of text. Or it connected your phone, but now you need the actual password to get your laptop online. Either way, the credentials are locked inside the code, and this decoder gets them out.

Two ways to decode

Upload the image. A photo of the sticker, a screenshot someone sent you, a saved QR image: drop it in and the decoder reads the code and displays the network name, security type, and password separately.

Paste the raw text. If a scanner app already showed you something like WIFI:T:WPA;S:HomeNetwork;P:s3cret!;;, paste it into the box above and it splits the fields cleanly, handling escaped characters that trip up manual reading.

A ZXing WiFi decoder online, nothing to install

Many people search for a ZXing decoder online to get a WiFi password, because ZXing is the open source library most QR apps are built on. A plain ZXing decoder gives you the raw string, for example WIFI:T:WPA;S:CafeGuest;P:latte2024;;, and leaves you to pick the password out yourself.

This decoder uses ZXing as its second reader, behind a faster first pass, and then does the last step for you: it splits the string into the network name, password, security type and hidden network flag, and undoes the backslash escaping that hides characters like semicolons. Nothing is installed and the image never leaves your browser.

How camera scanning works

Why your camera shows text instead of connecting

This is the single most common complaint about WiFi QR codes, and it is not a fault in the code. Android has supported automatic WiFi joining from a QR code since version 10. iOS supports it through the Camera app on iOS 11 and later. Outside those paths (a third-party scanner app, a desktop webcam, a browser-based reader) the software has no permission to change your network settings, so it does the only thing it can and shows you the text.

What you see looks like this:

WIFI:T:WPA;S:MyNetwork;P:hunter2;H:false;;

That is the correct, complete content of the code. Nothing is broken. You simply need the fields pulled apart, which is what the scanner above does automatically.

Already connected? Get the password without a code

If the network is already saved on your phone, you may not need a QR code at all:

• iPhone, iOS 16 or later: open Settings, tap Wi-Fi, tap the (i) next to the network, then tap Password and confirm with Face ID or Touch ID. On iOS 18 the Passwords app can also show the network as a QR code for someone else to scan.
• Android 10 or later: open the network in your Wi-Fi settings and tap Share. Many phones print the password under the QR code. If yours only shows the code, take a screenshot and drop it into the decoder above.

Our guide to finding a WiFi password from a QR code walks through each phone step by step.

Where the password lives inside the code

A WiFi QR code is not encrypted. It is a plain text string in a standard format that Android and iOS both read. The S: field is the network name, P: is the password, T: is the security type. Our WiFi QR format guide documents every field, including the odd cases: hidden networks, WEP legacy codes, and passwords containing semicolons.

Common situations

Hotel gave you a QR but the smart TV needs a typed password. The office guest network is QR-only and your Linux laptop has no scanner. Grandma's router sticker faded except the QR square. A friend AirDropped you a screenshot of their network code. In each case: decode once, read the password, type it where you need it. If your only copy of the code is on the same phone screen you are scanning with, save it to your photos and upload it here: the decoder reads codes from screenshots already on your device.

A note on ethics and safety

Decoding a code that was shared with you is exactly what the code is for: the owner published their credentials the moment they printed it. This tool does not crack, guess, or intercept anything; it reads what is openly written. Everything runs in your browser, so the password never touches our servers. Scanning a code from an untrusted source? Check where it points first with the safe QR scanner: WiFi-format codes are harmless, but URL codes disguised as WiFi codes are a known phishing trick. And when you want to make a code for your own network, the WiFi QR generator does it in seconds.

What fits in a WiFi QR code

WiFi QR codes use the WIFI: format that the ZXing project defined and that Android 10+ and iOS 11+ read natively. The full string follows the pattern WIFI:T:WPA;S:networkname;P:password;H:false;;. The T field is the security type: usually WPA, which also covers WPA2, or WEP for old networks, or nopass for open ones. WEP was declared insecure long ago, but codes carrying WEP credentials still turn up on older hotel and shop installs. Size is never the problem: a network name can be up to 32 bytes and a WPA2 password 8 to 63 characters, which fits comfortably inside a small QR code.

What this decoder does not verify

The decoder extracts the credential string. It does not test whether those credentials authenticate against a live router, confirm the network is in range, or verify the BSSID. It performs no network request. If a QR code encodes a hidden network (H:true), most OS-level scanners fail silently; this tool still returns the SSID and password regardless of the hidden flag. It also can't tell you whether a password has shown up in a data breach; a breach-check service does that job.

Troubleshooting failed decodes

When a decode fails, the cause is usually the image, not the code. Blurry or heavily compressed pictures soften the edges of the three corner squares. A crop that is too tight cuts into the quiet zone, the clear border that must be at least 4 module widths wide under ISO/IEC 18004. Glare and low contrast do the rest. Retake the photo straight on, in even light, with some white space around the code. If the picture itself is soft, why QR codes come out blurred explains which faults can be recovered and which need a fresh code, and the QR code not scanning checklist works through the rest in order.

If the decoder shows the network name but the password looks cut short, the password probably contains a semicolon, comma or colon that was not escaped. The WIFI format requires those characters to be written with a backslash in front, so a semicolon inside a password must appear as \;. Re-encode using a generator that follows the format, such as the WiFi QR code generator, then scan the corrected code.

Related WiFi & QR Tools

• Need to create one instead? Use our WiFi QR code generator.
• Only have a photo? Try the scan QR code from screenshot tool.
• Check a code is safe first with the safe QR code scanner.
• Setting up an eSIM? The eSIM QR code reader pulls out the SM-DP+ address and activation code to type in by hand.
• Learn the structure in WiFi QR code format explained.

Last reviewed: July 25, 2026. Decoder tested with QR codes from iPhone, Android, and router stickers.

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