How to connect to Wi-Fi with a QR code on Windows

Which Windows version you need

The built-in Wi-Fi QR features arrived with Windows 11, and the code-sharing view in Settings is associated with version 24H2 and later. Before you follow any of the steps below, check what you are running: right-click Start, choose Settings, then System, then About, and look under Windows specifications for the version number.

If you are on Windows 10, or an early Windows 11 build, the Camera and Settings routes below will not appear. Skip to the Windows 10 section, which covers what actually works.

Joining a network by scanning a code (Windows 11)

This is the route most people are looking for: someone has shown you a Wi-Fi QR code — on a café table, a router label, a hotel card — and you want your PC on that network without typing a long password.

It uses the Camera app rather than a browser or a third-party tool, and it needs a working built-in camera or a connected webcam.

• Press Start, type Camera, and open the Camera app.
• Switch it to Barcode mode — the barcode icon sits at the side or bottom of the window. Photo mode will not read the code.
• Hold the QR code in front of the camera with the whole code visible, including its white margin.
• When the Camera app shows a link, select it. Windows opens Settings.
• Confirm that you want to add and connect to the network, and choose whether to reconnect automatically in future.

Showing a QR code for a network you are already on (Windows 11)

The other direction is just as useful: a guest arrives, and rather than reading out a twenty-character password you show them a code to scan.

Windows can only do this where it holds a usable saved profile for the network. A network that was removed, reset, or saved without a usable password will not offer the option.

• Press Windows + I to open Settings.
• Go to Network & internet, then Wi-Fi.
• Open the properties for the connected network — the information icon beside it.
• Find Wi-Fi network password and select Show. Windows displays the password and a QR code.
• Have your guest open their phone camera and point it at the code. Keep the window open while they scan.

Sharing a network you are not currently connected to

Windows can also produce a code for a saved network you are not on at that moment, which is handy when you are setting up a replacement phone or helping someone reconnect to a network you joined months ago.

Go to Settings, then Network & internet, then Wi-Fi, and open Manage known networks. Select the saved network and choose Show where it is offered. If the saved profile no longer contains usable credentials, the option will not appear.

Windows 10: what actually works

Windows 10 has no native camera-to-settings Wi-Fi flow and no QR display in Settings. Do not assume the Windows 11 steps apply — they will not.

The practical workaround is to read the code to get the credentials, then join the network the ordinary way. A Wi-Fi QR code is not encrypted: it holds the network name, security type and password in a plain text format that looks like WIFI:T:WPA;S:NetworkName;P:Password;;. Read it and you have everything you need.

You can do that with our QR code reader — take a photo or screenshot of the code, open it in the tool, and it shows the raw contents including the password. The decoding happens in your browser, so the image is not uploaded anywhere, which matters when the thing you are decoding is a network password.

• Photograph or screenshot the Wi-Fi QR code.
• Open it in a QR reader to reveal the network name and password.
• On Windows, click the network icon, choose the network, and enter the password by hand.
• Alternatively, scan the code with a phone, then view the password in the phone's Wi-Fi settings and type it into Windows.

When it does not work

Most failures come down to a small number of causes, and they are the same ones that affect any scanning.

• The Camera app is in Photo mode rather than Barcode mode.
• Camera permissions are switched off — check Settings, Privacy & security, Camera.
• Glare, particularly when scanning a code off a phone screen. Lower the phone's brightness rather than raising it.
• The code is cropped. The white margin around a code is part of it, and a code cropped tight to the pattern often will not read.
• The code is not actually a Wi-Fi code. Some codes on router labels point at a setup page instead. Read it with a QR reader to see what it holds.
• The network uses a captive portal or enterprise login. A QR code cannot bypass either.

Treat the code like the password, because it is

A Wi-Fi QR code contains the credentials in readable form. Anyone who can photograph it can join the network, and anyone who can read the code can extract the plain password.

That is fine for a guest network. It is not fine for the network your business systems sit on. Put codes on a guest SSID, and be aware that workplace, school and hotel networks usually have policies against sharing credentials at all — displaying a code for one is still sharing the password, whatever it looks like.