What this does
Generates the correctly formatted WIFI: QR code string — the de facto standard, universally supported by Android and iOS camera apps, for encoding a network's SSID, password, and security type into a scannable code that joins the network automatically. Handles the required escaping of special characters (backslash, semicolon, comma, colon) in the SSID and password correctly. Entirely in your browser.
Why escaping is the part people get wrong doing this by hand
The format uses semicolons and colons as structural delimiters, so a password containing one of those characters — a completely normal thing for a strong, random passphrase to include — has to have it escaped with a backslash, or a scanner will misread where the password field actually ends. Hand-building this string for a password with a semicolon or colon in it is exactly the kind of small detail that's easy to get wrong once and never notice until a specific phone fails to parse the code correctly.
FAQ
Is the WIFI: QR format an official standard?
It's a de facto standard rather than an official RFC or IEEE specification — it originated with the ZXing open-source barcode library and its Barcode Scanner app, and both Android and iOS's built-in camera apps adopted the same format for auto-joining WiFi networks from a scanned code, which is what made it the universal convention it is today.
Why do special characters in my SSID or password need escaping?
The format uses semicolons to separate fields and colons to separate each field's label from its value, so a literal semicolon, comma, colon, or backslash inside an actual SSID or password has to be distinguished from the format's own structural characters — otherwise a password containing a semicolon would be misread as ending early. Escaping (a backslash before each of those four characters) is what makes that distinction unambiguous.
Does this tool generate an actual scannable QR code image?
No — it generates the correctly formatted and escaped text string that a QR code should encode. Paste that string into any QR code generator (many are available as free web tools) to produce the actual scannable image.
Will this work for WPA3 networks?
Yes — the format doesn't distinguish between WPA, WPA2, and WPA3 specifically; all three personal/pre-shared-key variants use the same "WPA" type field, since from the QR code's perspective they're all just "a password-based encrypted network," with the phone's own WiFi stack handling which specific protocol version to actually negotiate.
Is sharing a WiFi password via QR code less secure than just telling someone the password?
Not inherently — the QR code just encodes the same password as plain text; anyone who scans it (or who intercepts the printed code) gets exactly the same access they'd get from being told the password directly. The security consideration is the same as with any password sharing: control who can see the code or the printed material it's on.
Try it yourself
For the format's history and exactly how the escaping and field rules work, see How WiFi QR Codes Work. Choosing a password to put in the code? WPA/WPA2 PSK Strength Checker checks it first.