QR codes aren't just web links: WiFi, contacts, email, WhatsApp and more

27 June 2026

Nearly every QR code you meet points at a web page. So you'd be forgiven for thinking that's the limit. It isn't. A QR code just stores text, and phone cameras spot certain patterns and act on them — hopping onto WiFi, saving a contact, firing off a message. Here are the ones worth using, with the exact text each needs.

WiFi

Let guests onto your network without reading a password off a sticker. The format:

WIFI:T:WPA;S:MyNetwork;P:MyPassword;;

T is the security type (WPA, WEP, or nopass for open networks), S is the network name, P is the password. Perfect for cafés, holiday lets, meeting rooms, events. Print it, people scan, they're on.

Contact card (vCard / MeCard)

Pack in a full contact and a scan offers "Add to contacts" — name, phone, email, company, website. Made for business cards, conference badges, email signatures. vCard is the richer, better-supported one. MeCard is leaner, for when you want a smaller, less busy code.

Email

Pre-fill a message with mailto::

mailto:hello@example.com?subject=Enquiry&body=Hi%20there

The scanner opens their email app with the address, subject, and body ready to send. Handy on feedback, support, and enquiry posters.

SMS

Kick off a text, pre-written if you like:

SMSTO:+441234567890:Text JOIN to sign up

Good for opt-ins, competitions, and short-code sign-ups where you want the message already typed.

Phone call

Dial a number with tel::

tel:+441234567890

Stick it on a poster, a van, or a support notice and people call in one tap instead of copying digits.

Open a WhatsApp chat with your number, a starter message too if you want, using a wa.me link:

https://wa.me/441234567890?text=Hi%2C%20I%27d%20like%20to%20order

A favourite for support and ordering — the customer scans, lands in a chat, first message already typed.

A few others

Geo — geo:51.5074,-0.1278 drops a map pin.
Calendar — encode an event and a scan offers to add it to a diary.
Plain text — sometimes you just want the scan to show a note or a code.

The payload rules still hold

Format aside, the basics don't budge. Shorter text, fewer modules, easier scan. A tel: number makes a lovely sparse code. A long vCard makes a dense one, so keep it lean and print it a bit bigger. It's all in what makes a good QR code. And any of these takes your logo and colours just like a link.

Make a batch of them

Non-URL codes earn their keep in bulk. A WiFi code for every holiday let. A vCard for every employee. A WhatsApp code per branch. In bulkqr you paste the list of payloads — in the right format — set the look once, and download the set as a ZIP or printable labels.

Give it a go — generate a batch of any payload type.