Plain text QR code
The characters are in the pattern. There is no link, no page and no server, so the text appears on the screen of a phone that has no signal at all.
Create a text codeReadable with no connection
Editorial teamLast reviewed: 29 October 2026Editorial standards
Short answer
A text code stores the characters directly. Up to about 200 characters stays readable at 3 cm, up to 500 needs 5 cm, and beyond roughly 1,000 characters a link is the better tool. Anyone can read the content without scanning it with your app.
This is the only type that works with no data connection and with no hosted page behind it, which is both its advantage and the reason it is used less than a link.
It is also the least private format here: the content sits in the pattern in the open, and a scanner app can display it without the reader ever opening a browser.
How much text fits
The standard allows several thousand characters at its highest version, but the pattern grows with every character and the printed area does not. A code that holds a paragraph needs more room than a business card.
Working values for print: 200 characters stays comfortable at 3 cm, 500 needs around 5 cm, and past 1,000 characters on paper the code becomes impractical. If the content is longer than that, a link is the honest answer.
- Accented characters and emoji take more space than plain letters
- Line breaks are allowed and most scanners display them
- No formatting, no bold, no images inside the payload
- Error correction level changes how much fits and how much damage is survivable
Where a text code wins
Machine serial numbers, a Wi-Fi password nobody wants to spell out, an emergency instruction in a place with no reception, a locker code, a batch number on a delivery note. Anything that has to be read on the spot and is useless if it points at a page that will not load.
It also wins where the content must not change and must not be tracked. A text code opens nothing, so it cannot call a server and cannot be logged.
Where it loses
Against a link, everywhere the content will change. A text code is frozen at the moment of printing, and a correction means a new print run.
Against a link, also where the reader might want to act: a text code cannot open a page, start a call or save a contact. It is a label with better reach.
One honest warning
Do not put anything confidential into a text code. The content is not encrypted, it can be read by any scanner app, and a photograph of the code is enough to decode it. A password in a text code is a password printed on the wall.
Questions about text codes
Does a text code need internet?
No. The characters are part of the pattern, so the camera displays them immediately, offline and in flight mode.
How many characters should I use?
Stay under 200 for a small label, under 500 if you can print 5 cm or more. Beyond that, use a link.
Can the text be changed later?
No. A static code is fixed at print. Changing the text means generating and printing a new code.
Is a text code secure?
It is readable, not secure. Treat it as public text and keep secrets out of it.