How to Make an Instagram QR Code

What do you need before you start?

You need 4 things ready, and no account to try the generator. A free account, or just your email, is asked for only at the download step.

• Your Instagram username, or the profile link: in the app open your profile and tap Share profile › Copy link.
• For one post or reel instead of the whole account: the link from ••• › Copy link on that post.
• A phone with the Instagram app installed, to check that the scan lands in the app.
• The width of the space the code is printed in, in centimetres, such as the corner of a menu or a box lid.

How do you make an Instagram QR code step by step?

Follow these 7 steps in the Instagram QR Code generator; the preview updates as you type. Each screenshot below is the real screen, filled in with a sample bakery’s details.

1. 1Copy your profile link or note your handle

   The generator needs one thing: the address of the account. Your handle is enough, so @riversidebakery works as it stands. For a post or reel, open it in Instagram, tap ••• and choose Copy link.

   Links copied from the app end in a share tag that starts with ?igsh=. That tag adds more than 20 characters without changing where the link opens, so delete it in the next step.

2. 2Type the handle into the Instagram field

   Open the Instagram QR code generator and click the field labelled Instagram profile, post or reel URL. Type the handle with or without the @ sign, or paste the copied link. Dots and underscores in a handle are kept exactly as typed.

   The generator turns @riversidebakery into https://www.instagram.com/riversidebakery/. Open Encoded data under the design tabs to check that address against your profile. The pink code on the right redraws as you type, and the line beneath it reads 42 bytes for this sample.

   Tip: Pasted a link from the app? Delete everything from the question mark onwards, so the address ends at the username.

   

3. 3Keep or replace the Instagram logo in the centre

   Open the Logo tab. The Instagram icon is selected in the row of ready-made logos, and a note under it reads “Error correction switches to H automatically so the code still scans”. Level H recovers up to 30% of the pattern, which makes room for the icon.

   Drag Logo size to shrink or enlarge the icon, and pick Flat, 3D or Plain under Logo style. To use your own mark, click the box that says “Click to replace · drop a new file here”. Watch the Scannability bar while you drag: it reads “High” while the code is safe.

   

4. 4Download the Instagram code as PNG or SVG

   Click Download PNG for a story, a slide or an office printer. Click SVG for menus, packaging and posters, because a vector file stays sharp at any size. A box titled “Where should we send it?” opens the first time: enter an email and press Download now, or choose Sign up with a password.

   The file arrives at once, named like qrjiffy-instagram-D8B72vQ.png. The short link it holds now shows under the preview as qrjiffy.com/r/….

   

5. 5Scan the file and check which account opens

   Point a phone camera at the code on your monitor and tap the link banner. The Instagram app opens on the profile when it is installed; without the app, Safari or Chrome loads the profile on instagram.com. Confirm the username at the top is yours.

   For a second check, upload the PNG to the QR code scanner. It reports a Website link with the domain qrjiffy.com and the full short link, and Open link sends you on to the profile.

   Tip: Instagram’s own camera reads QR codes too. Open it, aim at the code and tap the link that appears.

   

6. 6Repoint the code or read its scans in the dashboard

   Open the dashboard from the “Manage it in your dashboard” link, or from the email QRJiffy sends after the download. The code’s page has four tabs: Design, Destination, Analytics and Settings. Under Destination you swap the profile for a reel, a giveaway post or a renamed account, and every printed copy follows.

   Analytics counts scans by day, device and country. A free account covers 200 scans a month across all its codes, and Pro costs $30 a year for unlimited scans.

   

7. 7Print the code with your handle underneath

   Print the code at least 2 × 2 cm on cards, receipts and packaging, and 10 cm wide on a poster read from 1 m. Leave a blank margin of 4 dots on every side. Set your @handle in small type under the code, so people who prefer to search still find you.

   Add a reason to follow next to it, such as “Scan for today’s specials”. Table tents, shop windows, event photo walls and packaging inserts are the usual places.

Open the Instagram QR Code generatorFree. Nothing to install.

Where is the QR code inside the Instagram app?

Is the Instagram app’s QR code or a QRJiffy code better?

• Destination: the app’s code opens your own profile only. A QRJiffy code opens any profile, post, reel or highlight.
• Colours: the app offers 3 preset styles. The generator accepts any foreground and background colour.
• File: the app saves a phone image. The generator gives a PNG up to 1,200 px and a vector SVG.
• Error correction: fixed in the app; L, M, Q or H in the generator’s Advanced tab.
• Login: the app’s code needs an Instagram login to create. The generator does not.

What happens to the code when you change your Instagram username?

Can you post a QR code on Instagram itself?

What mistakes stop an Instagram QR code from working?

These 5 mistakes cause most failed Instagram QR codes; each has a quick fix. Test the downloaded file with two different phones before you print anything.

Frequently asked questions