Scan a QR Code
Point your camera at a code, or upload a photo or screenshot. Everything is decoded in your browser — the image never leaves your device.
You can also drag an image here, or paste a screenshot with Ctrl+V / Cmd+V.
How to Scan a QR Code on iPhone
How to scan a QR code on iPhone with the Camera app, Control Center, Photos, and Safari. Includes what to do when the camera will not scan, how to read a QR code already saved in your photo library, and the iOS setting that turns scanning off.
Quick Answer
To scan a QR code on iPhone, open the Camera app, point the rear camera at the code, and tap the yellow notification banner that appears. If nothing appears, open Settings > Camera and turn on 'Scan QR Codes'. To read a code already saved on your phone, open the image in Photos and tap the Live Text icon in the bottom-right corner — the Camera app cannot scan a code that is on your own screen.
How to scan a QR code on iPhone
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Step 1: Open the Camera app on your iPhone. Any mode works, but Photo mode is the most reliable.
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Step 2: Point the rear camera at the QR code. Use the rear camera, not the selfie camera, which has a shorter focal range and struggles to focus on close print.
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Step 3: Hold the phone about 15–30 cm away so the whole code fills roughly half the frame, including the white margin around it.
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Step 4: Wait for the yellow notification banner to appear at the top of the screen showing the destination.
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Step 5: Tap the banner to open the link. Read the domain name in the banner before tapping — that is your only chance to see where it goes.
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Step 6: If no banner appears, open Settings, tap Camera, and check that 'Scan QR Codes' is switched on. It is on by default but is sometimes disabled by a device management profile on work phones.
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Step 7: For a QR code already saved as a photo or screenshot, open it in the Photos app and tap the Live Text icon in the bottom-right corner, then tap the highlighted link.
The four ways to scan on iPhone, and when to use each
iOS gives you more than one scanner, and the one most people know about is the one that fails in the most common situation.
- 1Camera app — the default. Point the rear camera at a physical code and tap the yellow banner. Works on iPhone 6s and later running iOS 11 or newer. This is the right tool for a code on a poster, menu, or package.
- 2Control Center Code Scanner — a dedicated scanner that opens links without the banner step and does not save a photo. Add it in Settings > Control Center > Code Scanner, then swipe down from the top-right corner to use it. Better in dim light because it has a built-in torch toggle.
- 3Photos app Live Text — for a code already in your library. Open the image and tap the Live Text icon (a square with three lines) in the bottom-right corner. This is how you scan a screenshot, a code someone texted you, or a photo of a code you took earlier.
- 4Safari and Mail — long-press an image containing a QR code on a web page or in an email, and iOS often offers to open the encoded link directly from the context menu.
The problem none of them solve: a code on your own screen
If the QR code is displayed on the iPhone you are holding — in an email, a ticket, a PDF, a webpage — the Camera app is useless, because you cannot point a phone at itself. This is by far the most common reason people search for a way to scan a QR code on iPhone and find that nothing works.
There are two fixes. Screenshot the code (press the side button and volume up together), open the screenshot in Photos, and use Live Text on it. Or upload that screenshot to the scanner at the top of this page, which decodes it in the browser and shows you the destination without opening it — useful when you want to check a link before trusting it.
When the iPhone camera will not scan
Work through these in order. The first two account for most failures.
- 1QR scanning is switched off. Settings > Camera > Scan QR Codes. Managed work phones sometimes have this disabled by policy.
- 2You are using the front camera. Switch to the rear camera — the selfie lens cannot focus close enough on small printed codes.
- 3You are too close. Counterintuitively, moving further away usually fixes it. The camera needs the full code plus its white quiet zone in frame to lock on.
- 4The lens is dirty or the code is behind glass or lamination. Wipe the lens; change your angle to kill the reflection.
- 5The code is damaged, faded, or printed too small. If it is under about 2 cm square on paper, many phones cannot resolve the modules. Photograph it and upload the photo to the scanner above, which retries at several scales.
- 6It is not actually a QR code. Barcodes and Data Matrix codes on packaging look similar and iOS handles them differently.
Read the banner before you tap it
The yellow banner shows the destination domain, and it is the only moment iOS gives you to check where a code leads. Malicious QR codes are almost always ordinary codes pointing at a lookalike domain — a sticker placed over the real code on a parking meter, or a flyer linking to a fake payment page.
Read the domain, not the path. Everything after the first single slash can be forged to look reassuring; the hostname before it cannot. If it is shortened to bit.ly or similar, the banner tells you nothing at all about the real destination, and you should treat it as unknown unless you trust whoever printed the code.
Free, private, and permanent
WebsitesQR runs entirely in your browser. Codes you create are static and never expire; images you scan are never uploaded. Learn about QR code safety →
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is my iPhone camera not scanning QR codes?
The most common cause is that QR scanning is turned off — check Settings > Camera > Scan QR Codes. After that, the usual causes are using the front camera instead of the rear one, holding the phone too close for the lens to focus, or a code that is damaged, too small, or behind reflective glass. Moving further away fixes it surprisingly often.
How do I scan a QR code that is already on my iPhone screen?
You cannot point the camera at your own screen, so screenshot it instead: press the side button and volume up together, open the screenshot in Photos, and tap the Live Text icon in the bottom-right corner. Alternatively upload the screenshot to the scanner at the top of this page, which shows you the destination without opening it.
How do I scan a QR code from a photo on iPhone?
Open the photo in the Photos app and tap the Live Text icon — a small square containing three lines — in the bottom-right corner. iOS highlights the encoded link and you tap it to open. This works on iOS 15 and later. On older versions, upload the image to the browser scanner above instead.
Which iPhones can scan QR codes?
Every iPhone from the 6s onward running iOS 11 or later scans QR codes natively in the Camera app. Live Text scanning from the Photos app needs iOS 15 or later on an iPhone XS, XR, or newer. The browser scanner above works on any iPhone with a modern version of Safari or Chrome, regardless of age.
Do I need a QR code app on my iPhone?
No, and you should be sceptical of ones that ask for permissions. iOS has scanned QR codes natively since iOS 11. Most App Store QR scanners exist to serve ads or collect scan history, and offer nothing the built-in camera and the browser scanner above do not already do.
How do I add the Code Scanner to Control Center?
Open Settings, tap Control Center, scroll to 'More Controls', and tap the green plus next to Code Scanner. Then swipe down from the top-right corner of the screen and tap the scanner icon. It opens links directly, has a built-in torch for dim light, and does not leave photos in your library.