How to scan QR codes on iPhone: 3 easy ways to get the info you need

You can scan a QR code directly from your iPhone — you don’t need to download a third-party app to get the information you need. Apple even gives you three ways to do it. You can scan a QR code using your iPhone’s camera, using a shortcut in Control Center, or directly from an image in your Photos library

As QR codes become increasingly prevalent, it’s good to know these methods. If you’re in a restaurant and you want to open the digital menu or join the Wi-Fi network, you don’t want to fiddle with installing a third-party app.

To learn three ways you can scan a QR code using your iPhone, keep reading or watch our short video.

Scan a QR code on iPhone

QR codes (short for “Quick Response codes”) provide an easy way for businesses and organizations to deliver links to informational websites and apps. The black-and-white square symbols can be scanned by iPhones and Android devices, providing an easy way to connect users with event tickets, discount coupons and other offers quickly and efficiently.

Use of QR codes spiked during the COVID-19 pandemic, when restaurants and other businesses began using them as a touchless way to convey information. Now, they’ve become an essential way to deliver info that can be updated digitally, without the need for costly physical printing.

Table of contents: How to scan a QR code on iPhone

• What is a QR code?
• Use the iPhone’s camera to scan a QR code
• Add Apple’s QR code scanner app to Control Center
• Scan QR code from an image (photo or screenshot)

What is a QR code?

QR codes were invented for labeling automobile parts in 1994 by Masahiro Hara of Japanese company Denso Wave.

The unique-looking symbols feature “black squares on a white background with fiducial markers, readable by imaging devices like cameras, and processed using Reed–Solomon error correction until the image can be appropriately interpreted,” according to Wikipedia. “The required data is then extracted from patterns that are present in both the horizontal and the vertical components of the QR image.”

Use the iPhone’s camera to scan a QR code

The iPhone camera has other tricks up its sleeve, too. Using Live Text, you can copy words out of the camera or even translate them into different languages.

Add Apple’s QR code scanner app to Control Center

For a nicer (and faster) experience, you can add Apple’s Scan Code control to Control Center to scan QR codes on your iPhone.

1. Swipe down from the iPhone’s top-right corner to open the Control Center. Either press the + icon in the upper left or long-press on a blank part of the screen to customize the Control Center. Tap Add a control, then tap Scan Code to add the iPhone’s built-in QR code scanner. Drag to rearrange the control’s place in the list, if desired.
2. From Control Center, tap the Scan Code button (which shows a tiny QR code icon) to open the app. A square targeting bracket with rounded edges will open on your iPhone’s screen. Center the QR code in the brackets. (If you need more light, tap the flashlight icon.)
3. Unlike the camera, Apple optimized this app for scanning QR codes. The code should open immediately — you don’t need to confirm by tapping a button.

If you scan QR codes regularly, this method proves much faster than using the Camera app.

Scan QR code from an image (photo or screenshot)

What if you take a picture or a screenshot of a QR code? How do you scan it if it’s in your Photos library? Do you need a second phone? No.

1. To open a QR code stored in your photo library, just open the Photos app. You can tap the Search button at lower right and type in “qr code” to see all the codes in your photo library.
2. From any photo with a QR code in it, just tap and hold on the code. You’ll see a pop-up menu that will show your options, such as “Open in Safari” or “Join network.”

We originally published this post on how to scan a QR code with an iPhone on January 29, 2024. We updated it again on September 29, 2025, after the release of iOS 26.