Scanning a QR code from an image

Every method below works on a picture, so start by turning whatever you have into one. The image only needs to show the whole code clearly, with a little white space around it.

• On a web page or in an app, take a screenshot.
• In an email or chat, save the attached image, or screenshot the message.
• In a PDF, zoom in until the code fills a good part of the screen, then screenshot it. A tiny code in a full-page screenshot may be too coarse to read.
• On paper you have already photographed, use the photo as it is, provided it is in focus.

If a screenshot will not read, crop it closer or take it again at a higher zoom level. A code that is only a few dozen pixels across in the image has lost the detail the decoder needs.

Google Lens

1. Open Google Lens, from the Google app or the camera icon in the Google search bar.
2. Instead of pointing the camera, choose an image from your gallery — the recent screenshots are usually listed first.
3. Select the screenshot. Lens detects the code and shows the link.
4. Read the address, then tap it if it is what you expected.

Google Photos and the screenshot tools

Google Photos has a Lens button when you open an image, which does the same thing. Many phones also offer a Lens or “search screen” option straight from the screenshot preview or by long-pressing the home button or navigation bar, so you can read a code without saving anything. The names vary by manufacturer; look for the Lens icon.

Recent versions of iOS detect QR codes in images through the same feature that recognises text in photos, often called Live Text.

1. Take a screenshot, or open the image in the Photos app.
2. Touch and hold the QR code in the image.
3. A menu or link preview appears with the address. Tap it to open it in Safari, or copy it.

If touching and holding does nothing, tap the Live Text or Visual Look Up button that appears in the corner of the photo when iOS finds something it can read, and make sure the image is sharp and not too small. The Google app for iPhone also includes Lens and can read a code from a photo in your library.

Computers do not usually have a scanner built in, but there are two easy routes.

• Google Lens in Chrome. Right-click the image of the code and choose the option to search the image with Google, or use the Google Lens entry in Chrome’s menu or address bar to select an area of the page. The panel that opens shows the link the code contains.
• Your phone, pointed at the monitor. This is often the quickest way. Turn the screen brightness up, zoom the code to a comfortable size, and scan it as you would a printed one. Tilt slightly if you see glare or a moiré pattern.

For a PDF on a computer, open it in the browser so Lens can reach it, or zoom in and scan the screen with your phone. If the phone will not react at all, how to scan a QR code has a checklist for the camera side.

Codes that reach you by email, text, or chat deserve more suspicion than codes on a shop counter. Sending a QR code instead of a link is a known way of getting a phishing address past email filters and past your own eye, because you cannot read it until it is decoded.

• Read the decoded address before opening it, and compare it with the sender’s real domain.
• Be wary of any code that leads to a sign-in page, a payment form, or an app download.
• If the message claims to be from your bank, employer, or a delivery company, go to their site directly instead.

Are QR codes safe? explains what to look for. And if you are on the other side — sending people a code in a document or presentation — consider putting the plain link next to it; QR codes in presentations covers that.

Make a code for your own link, generated in your browser:Generate a QR code