A QR code generator that works offline

Everything in QR by Zaweba happens on your PC, with no internet needed to make or save a code. You choose the kind of code, fill in the boxes, check the preview and save a PNG, SVG or PDF, all on your own computer. Nothing you type is sent to a website to be turned into a code.

That makes it handy in places with poor or no connection, and sensible for anything private.

Why offline matters for QR codes

Making a QR code is a calculation, not a service. The pattern comes straight from the text you put in, and any computer can work it out. An online generator does that calculation on its own server, which means everything you type goes there first.

For a link to a public web page that hardly matters. For a Wi-Fi password, your home address on a contact card, or a private phone number, it is worth keeping the details on your own machine. In QR by Zaweba, the Wi-Fi password isn't even kept in the app's remembered settings: close the program and it's gone.

Working without a connection

Offline also means it works wherever your PC does. A teacher preparing worksheets on a train, a stallholder making price cards in a field, a volunteer at a village hall with no Wi-Fi, an office whose internet is down for the afternoon: all can open QR by Zaweba and carry on.

The codes come out the same whether you are connected or not, because the pattern depends only on what you type and the settings you choose.

What you can do offline

All of the making and saving. Choose from eight kinds of code: web address, Wi-Fi network, contact card, email, phone call, text message, map location and plain text. Set the size in millimetres, the margin, and the error correction level, L, M, Q or H. Choose colours or a transparent background, or put a logo in the middle, which raises error correction to High so the code still reads.

The live check works offline too. On every change the preview decodes the code it has just drawn and says Checked: it reads back exactly, or explains what is wrong. That check runs inside the app, not on a server.

Save as PNG at 150, 300, 600 or 1200 dpi, as SVG measured in millimetres, or as a one-page vector PDF the size of the code. Copy picture puts it on the clipboard for another program.

Practical tips for working offline

Get your links right before you lose the connection. If you're making web address codes on the move, copy the full addresses, starting with https://, into a note while you still have internet, so you can paste them in later.

When you are back online, scan a printed code with your phone and make sure the page opens. The app's check proves the code reads back; only a real scan proves the page is there.

Keep your saved files in one folder. Since the codes are static, holding the data inside the code, the files are the codes, and you can print them again at any time.

Free, and on every system

QR by Zaweba is free software under the EULA, with no account. It runs on Windows 10 and 11, with versions for macOS and Linux that make the same kinds of code and the same files.