Tech Tip: How to Make a QR Code in Chrome


You’ve probably seen QR codes all over the place, especially now that everyone has a built-in scanner right on their smartphone’s camera. They provide businesses with quick and easy ways to share information about resources such as instruction manuals, assembly directions, restaurant menus, or even business cards. You can easily make QR codes for your business using a built-in Google Chrome feature.

Why use QR Codes?

When you create a QR code, what you’re creating is a scannable code that anyone with a smartphone can use to gain immediate access to a digital resource. Here are some of the common ways businesses use QR codes:

  • Website links
  • Sharing media, like images or video
  • Social media accounts
  • File sharing
  • Surveys and other types of feedback collection
  • Cashless transactions
  • Connect to emails!

The big draw for the QR code in the age of Covid was for contactless functionality, as you can imagine that exchanging things like business cards or other types of documents was just asking for germs. Now that some of the panic concerning Covid is winding down, however, QR codes are not slowing down at all, and they make for a convenient way to share information, even in a post-pandemic world.

How You Can Make a QR Code

Google Chrome comes with a built-in QR code generation tool that lets you build a QR code for a website, easy-peasy. First, go to the page you want to build your code for. Then, when you want to share it, you just right-click on the page and select Create QR Code for This Page. A pop-up dialog box will appear showing you the new QR code, as well as the website’s URL. You can download your code and use it how you see fit.

Note that codes generated in this way will have a little dinosaur in the middle of the code, so depending on your branding preferences, you might consider seeking out other options. For a free solution, though, this works splendidly.

You can use this method to share other media, too, like files located in the cloud, stored on your website, or anything else accessible by URL. You just create a QR code that navigates to that page.

What kinds of content are you going to share with your QR codes? To learn more, contact us at (703) 821-8200 today or reach out to Computerware at Cwit.com.

Alan Edwards, CISM, is chief information officer at Computerware, Inc., in Vienna, Virginia.

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