QR codes aren’t just for smart phones. They can also be read using your PC. To do this, various programs and free online services are available.

What are QR code scanners for your PC?

The two-di­men­sion­al QR code is an important tool for en­crypt­ing and de­crypt­ing in­form­a­tion. With this tech­no­logy, data can be stored and shared in an efficient manner. After first being encrypted and stored, elements up to 177 x 177 can then be retrieved using a suitable scanner. A great deal of in­form­a­tion can be trans­ferred in this way.

QR code in­form­a­tion can include shortened URLs, in­fograph­ics, or audio files. It’s also a great al­tern­at­ive to OCR software. Re­triev­ing QR code in­form­a­tion can be done by scanning the QR code with a smart­phone, or with a QR code reader on your PC.

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When can scanning a QR code on your PC be useful?

Usually, QR codes are read using smart­phones. This method has es­tab­lished itself over the years and is es­pe­cially common in marketing or in augmented reality in e-commerce. But if the QR en­cryp­tion is embedded in an email and you want to use your PC to read the QR code, your phone won’t be of much help to you. It may also be the case that you have the code on your smart­phone but need the in­form­a­tion on your computer. Or maybe you don’t have a smart­phone. Whatever your situation, knowing how to scan a QR code directly on your computer can be a great help.

The easiest way to do this is with a QR code generator. But there are also online programs you can use to scan a QR code with your PC.

QR code reader websites

There are many free websites that let you scan a QR code on your PC. In most cases, all you need to do is follow the steps below:

  1. Open the website.
  2. Activate your webcam so you scan the QR code from your computer. If you don’t have a webcam, you can upload a picture to the website. If necessary, make sure to mark the code’s location.
  3. Now, scan the QR code. The embedded in­form­a­tion will be displayed im­me­di­ately.

If the code is on your smart­phone, you can create a screen­shot and send it to your computer in an email. Then, upload the file and read the QR code on your PC.

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Using software to scan QR codes on your computer

If you want to regularly scan QR codes on your PC, you can also install a program. Many of these tools are free of charge. Various providers offer QR code tracking, but the most popular option is probably CodeTwo’s QR code desktop reader & generator. With this tool you have a QR code reader that works in Windows 10 you can create QR codes yourself. To scan a QR code with your PC, follow these steps:

  1. Download the program from the official provider.
  2. Read and accept the terms and con­di­tions.
  3. Install the software using the setup assistant.
  4. Launch the program.
  5. You now have options to use the QR code reader on your PC. You can do this directly from the screen, via the webcam, via a saved image file, or from the clipboard. These options can all be found in the upper left corner of your screen. Select one and continue.
  6. Now you can scan the QR code from your PC.

If the attempt fails, it may be because your screen isn’t scaled to 100 percent. To fix this, go to your desktop, right-click, and select ‘Display Settings’. Under ‘Scaling and Ar­range­ment’, set it to 100 percent. This is the re­com­men­ded setting for such programs.

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