QR Codes have become the new normal of our daily lives, all thanks to their highly versatile nature and effectiveness. Whether you want a secure, cashless payment for your coffee or want to collect a discount voucher at your favorite store, you have to scan a QR Code to get instant and trouble-free access to your services.
These QR codes have become a go-to tool for various sources of information. From business cards to digital linktree profiles, from a restaurant’s menu to a product’s usage guides, they are an effective way of quickly sharing information.
However, if you have ever wondered how exactly QR Codes work or how to scan QR Codes through your phone, then you’ve absolutely come to the right spot!
Here, we will be bringing the basic concept of QR Codes under the spotlight, along with 3 simple ways to read QR Codes from photos and files. So, get ready to walk through the rundown of this revolutionary innovation of the tech industry.
QR Codes – The Two-Dimensional Revolutionary Codes!
QR Codes, abbreviated for Quick Response, are a specialized form of traditional barcodes. They are two-dimensional square-shaped codes that hold the capability to store a large amount of data in encoded form as a series of black and white pixels. By scanning these codes, you can easily and quickly access the information available in them in encrypted format.
Having a storage capacity of 3KB maximum, QR Codes can encode various forms of data, including alphabets, numbers, special symbols, and Kanji characters. Hence, these data types are stored in “Data Modules,” the black boxes that are arranged on the white background of code.
QR Codes were initially developed by a Japanese automobile company named “Denso Wave” in 1994 to track the progress of automobile spare parts assembly in the supply chain.
However, these revolutionary codes are now used in various industries, including finance, healthcare, retail, marketing, automobile, telecommunication, robotics, and many more. From facilitating paperless documentation to bringing exciting interaction to offline marketing campaigns, QR Codes have brought a highly impactful wave of evolution to our daily lives.
How to Read QR Codes from Photos or Files – 3 Easy Ways Explained!
According to a report, worldwide scans of QR Codes have quadrupled in 2024, reaching 26.95 million scans annually. Hence, the concept of integrating QR Codes is drastically increasing in various industries.
Thus, it is important to know multiple ways to scan them and ensure updated, quick, and disruption-free tasks. Whether you have to scan a code to view a restaurant’s menu or scan a code on a product’s packaging to know its ingredients, we provide a quick and straightforward guide to scanning them.
Here, we have enlisted the three easy and quick ways to scan QR Codes from photos and files. So, let’s have a quick look at them!
1. Google Lens
Launched in 2017, Google Lens is a powerful tool for Android users that enables them to extensively search for objects, people, text codes, and things on Google directly from their built-in camera and photos. No matter if you want to solve an equation, read the news, search for a celebrity, or scan a QR Code, you can directly complete these tasks through Google Lens.
Using Google Lens for scanning QR Codes is a simple and quick process. Here is how you can utilize the strong features of Google Lens to read QR codes on your Android devices.
- Open the photo or file in your Google Photos.
- Click on the “Lens” icon, which is present at the bottom of the page.
- Adjust the lens frame on the code.
- Let the Google Lens load the tool and decode the data.
- Now, the data of the code will pop up on the photo. Click on it to access the link.
Most Android devices already have Google installed, and Google Lens is automatically activated on their devices. However, smartphones supporting older versions of Android might not have it. Thus, you can use the Google app to scan the code.
iPhone users can also use Google Lens to read QR Codes, but Google might not be available on their devices by default. Therefore, they can download Google from the App Store and use Google Lens.
2. Live Text
In addition to the built-in QR Code scanning feature in the iPhone camera, Apple also introduced Live Text in 2013. It is an AI-powered tool that smoothly interacts with the contents of photos and files. You can convert the handwritten notes into a digital format, search online for objects, persons, text meanings, and related information present in the photos, and, most importantly, scan the QR Codes.
Thus, whether you are using an iPhone, MacBook, or iPad, unless it has Apple OS, you can use the Live Text tool to scan QR Codes within a few seconds. Here’s a quick step-by-step guide for doing it.
- Open the Photos app on your phone.
- Select the photo that has a QR code. If you have a QR Code in a file format, open the file.
- Click on the Live Text icon present at the bottom corner of the image.
- Tap on the QR Code within the image to adjust the focus of the tool.
- Let the tool link and a link to your data appear. Click on it to access the data.
3. Use QR Reader
Lastly, if you are unable to use Google Lens and Live Text on your devices, using an online QR Reader can be your ultimate solution. You only have to open the browser on your device, whether Android or Apple OS, and search for the tool to access it and successfully scan the code.
Here’s a quick guide to using a third-party QR reader online:
- Open the QR Scanner tool in your browser.
- Upload the image to the tool. Your browser might ask for permission to access your device’s gallery. Make sure that you grant access.
- Let the tool load the QR Code and decode the data.
- You will get your data link in the results box. Click on the link to further access it.
Most of the QR reading tools are available online. You can access them without any charges and quickly scan the code to decode the data and access it. You can also download such third-party applications on your device if you frequently interact with QR Codes and don’t want to search for the tool in your browser again and again.
Conclusion
The impact of QR Codes is undoubtedly huge, significant, and simply undeniable. From attending quizzes, workshops, and online events to viewing catalogs of your favorite brands, not forgetting about getting discounts and vouchers, the applications of QR Codes across various industries are growing every second. Thus, it is important to learn how to quickly scan them to experience ease, convenience, and disruption-free daily tasks.
Here, we have discussed the best three ways to scan QR Codes from photos and files that are not only easy but also quick. So, whether you have a picture of a banner or received a QR Code for the voucher, use the above methods and retrieve the information instantly.
