Is there a QR code formula in Excel or Google Sheets?

No. Neither application ships a worksheet function that makes a QR code — there is nothing named QRCODE, and no barcode function either. Microsoft's alphabetical list of Excel functions contains none, and Google's Sheets function list contains none. What both do have is an IMAGE function that displays a picture from an https address, which is why every spreadsheet QR tutorial is really a tutorial about pointing IMAGE at somebody else's image endpoint. That is a different thing from a native QR feature, and it comes with the limits of whatever service sits behind the address.

Does the =IMAGE("https://chart.googleapis.com/chart?cht=qr…") trick still work?

Not when we checked it. On 30 July 2026 we requested that exact chart endpoint and it answered HTTP 404 — no image at all. Any sheet built on it shows broken cells rather than codes, and a workbook you shipped months ago can quietly stop rendering the moment a third-party endpoint changes. Excel adds a second problem even for endpoints that do work: Microsoft's own IMAGE documentation says a source URL that redirects is blocked for security reasons, so a shortened or redirecting QR image link will not render in a cell at all.

So how do I actually make QR codes from a spreadsheet?

Stop trying to make them inside the sheet and use the sheet as the input instead. Keep one row per code — a column of links, SKUs, or asset IDs — then either save that workbook as .xlsx, export it as CSV, or just paste the rows. QRKit's bulk generator reads the file, shows you the rows it parsed, lets you pick which column becomes the code, and builds one QR code per row. What bounds a single upload is the 10MB ceiling on the file or paste, not a row count. You get the whole batch back as one download instead of copying and pasting a generator 400 times.

Which plan do I need for bulk QR codes from Excel or Sheets?

Bulk QR upload runs on the Plus plan and up, from $16/month billed annually. The gate in our code names those tiers exactly, and Starter is not one of them — Starter has the API and unlimited scans, but not bulk upload. Making, designing, and previewing a single QR code is free and needs no account; saving the file needs a free account.

Is there a free way to generate codes from a column in a spreadsheet?

Yes, if barcodes rather than QR codes will do the job. Our barcode generator takes a pasted column or a CSV, renders up to 500 rows in one batch, and hands the whole set back as a ZIP of PNG or SVG files or a multi-page PDF. There is no account check and no plan check anywhere in that code path — the 500 is a browser-memory limit that is the same number for everyone, and signing in does not raise it. Fourteen symbologies are available, including Code 128, Code 39, EAN-13, UPC, Data Matrix, GS1 DataMatrix, Aztec and PDF417. The trade-off is real: a barcode made this way is static, so it carries no redirect, no scan counts, and cannot be repointed later.

Do I have to convert my Excel file to CSV first?

No. The uploader reads .xlsx workbooks directly, as well as .csv files, and it also accepts rows pasted straight out of a sheet. CSV is only worth the extra step if your workbook is doing something the parser does not need — several tabs, charts, or formulas that would rather be resolved before upload. If you would rather start from a known-good shape, download one of the starter files: every QR type offers one as both a .csv and an .xlsx, with the exact column headers that type expects.

Which column headers does the bulk template need, and which QR types work?

Every template starts with a type column and a title column, then the fields that type needs — url for a link row, ssid and password for Wi-Fi, email and subject for an email row, and so on. Sixteen types can be created in bulk: URL, Google Form, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, X, TikTok, Linktree, Pinterest, and App Stores rows are dynamic; Wi-Fi, Email, SMS, Text, Event, and GS1 Digital Link rows are static. Two things people expect that are not there: you cannot bulk-create the vCard type, and you cannot bulk-upload files, so a spreadsheet of PDFs is not something bulk does. For a batch of contact codes, put each person's card or profile URL in a URL row instead.

Can I put a column of Wi-Fi passwords or plain text in the sheet?

Yes — Wi-Fi, Email, SMS, Text, Event, and GS1 Digital Link rows are all supported, and all six are static: the data is encoded into the image itself rather than behind a redirect. Static rows do not count against your account's dynamic QR quota, which is why a batch of them is cheap in plan terms. But they also have no scan analytics and cannot be edited after the fact, and anything in the payload — a Wi-Fi password included — travels inside the code for anyone who scans it.

Can I test the idea on the free plan first?

You can test one code, not a batch. The free plan allows one dynamic QR code, and that code stops redirecting once your account passes 100 scans in a month until the monthly reset — the cap is account-wide, not per-code. Static codes are not capped in number, a free QR download is a PNG capped at 1024px — SVG and PDF need a paid plan or the one-time Download Pack — and scan history is kept for 30 days. Downloads carry no watermark on any plan; on free, a dynamic code's scan page shows a small "Powered by QRKit" label, never the image file. For a genuinely free run over a whole column, the barcode path above is the honest answer.

Can I get the QR codes back into my spreadsheet afterwards?

Not as live cell images from us — we hand you image files, not an add-in that writes pictures into your workbook. In practice that is what most people want anyway: the files go to a designer, a label template, or a print shop. If you do want them in the sheet, insert the downloaded images and keep the row order, which the batch preserves. Note the Excel constraint here as well: its IMAGE function needs an https source and blocks redirecting URLs, so pointing cells at a dynamic QR link is not a workable substitute for the image files.

Can I update where the codes point after the labels are printed?

Yes, for the dynamic row types. URL, Google Form, App Stores, and the social types encode a redirect, so you can change the destination later and every printed code follows, and each one collects its own scan analytics. This is the reason a spreadsheet formula was never a good foundation for a product run: a formula-generated code bakes the link in, so a changed URL means reprinting everything.

Is there a QR code add-in or a QR font for Excel instead?

Third-party add-ins and fonts exist, and we are not in a position to vouch for any of them — we have not audited what they upload, how long they stay compatible, or whether your organisation permits them. Two structural points hold regardless of which one you pick. A font or an offline add-in produces a static code, so the destination is fixed once the sheet is printed. And an add-in that calls a web service puts your links through somebody else's server, which is the same dependency that leaves broken cells behind when an endpoint disappears. Uploading the column once and getting image files back avoids both.

Get Started Free

Excel QR Code & Google Sheets QR Code Generator

Neither app has a QR formula. Use your rows as the input instead — or try one code free below.

There is no QR code function in Excel or Google Sheets, and the formula trick everyone copies points at an endpoint that no longer answers. Feed the spreadsheet in instead: one code per row, from an .xlsx file, a CSV, or a paste. Try a single code free below — batch uploads run in your dashboard on Plus and up.

.xlsx, CSV or pasteWhole column at onceBulk on Plus & upOne code free here

Excel .xlsx, CSV, or pasted rowsOne QR code per row, 10MB per uploadBatch upload on Plus & upDesign one code free, no account

STEP 1Enter the URL

STEP 2Customize Design

This is a sample until you generate yours

Classic

Bubble

Smooth

Sharp

Elegant

Dots

Pattern

Classic

Bubble

Smooth

Sharp

Elegant

Dots

Eyes

Classic

Circle

Bubble

Smooth

Elegant

Dotted

STEP 3Download your QR code

This is a sample until you generate yours

Can't be edited after download

Runs in your browser. Nothing to install.

Designing and previewing a code needs no account; saving the file needs a free one. Whole-column runs happen in the dashboard uploader — see how that works.

The short answer

There Is No QR Code Formula in Excel or Google Sheets

Not a hidden one, not a newer one. Neither application ships a worksheet function that produces a QR code, and neither ships a barcode function either.

Microsoft's alphabetical list of Excel worksheet functions contains no QR or barcode entry. Google's Sheets function list contains none. What both have is an IMAGE function that renders a picture from a web address — in Sheets it is documented as inserting an image into a cell, and in Excel it takes a source URL plus optional alt text and sizing. Every “QR code formula” tutorial you have read is really a tutorial about pointing that function at somebody else's image service.

Which is why they break. The endpoint those tutorials almost always use is Google's old chart image service, called as chart?cht=qr. We requested it directly on 30 July 2026 and it returned HTTP 404 — no image, just an error page. A sheet built on it shows empty or broken cells, and a workbook that worked when you built it can stop rendering without anyone touching the file.

No native function, either app

Checked against both official function lists. There is no QRCODE, and nothing barcode-shaped. An add-in or a font is a third-party product, not a spreadsheet feature.

The famous endpoint answers 404

The chart image service the IMAGE trick calls returned HTTP 404 when we requested it on 30 July 2026. Anything built on it is showing broken cells today.

Excel blocks redirecting sources

Microsoft's IMAGE documentation states a source URL that redirects is blocked for security reasons, and the source must use https. That rules out shortened image links in cells.

Step by step

How to Make QR Codes From a Spreadsheet Instead

The move that works is to stop generating inside the sheet and use the sheet as the input. Your rows already hold the links, SKUs, or asset IDs; the uploader turns each row into its own code and gives you the whole set back at once.

Lay the sheet out one code per row

One row per code, with the value to encode in its own column. Keep a title column too — that title is the name you will see for each code in your dashboard, so shelf_A12 beats row 47.

Get it out as .xlsx, CSV, or a paste

Excel workbooks upload as .xlsx directly — no conversion step. From Google Sheets, an export lives under File, then Download. Or select the rows and paste them in. Uploads are capped at 10MB, which is thousands of rows of text.

Pick the row type and the column

Choose which of the sixteen row types you are creating, then point the uploader at the column holding the value. Rows that cannot be built — a malformed link, a missing Wi-Fi SSID — are listed with their row numbers before anything is generated, so a bad export never turns into a bad print run.

Generate the whole column in one run

One QR code per row, and the file-size limit above is the only ceiling on a single run — there is no separate row count to work around. Batch upload runs on the Plus plan and up; the bulk QR code generator page covers the output formats and label sheets in detail.

Not sure your columns are shaped right? Every row type offers a starter file to download in both .csv and .xlsx, with the exact headers that type expects.

The free route

Need Barcodes From a Column, Free? That One Is Not Gated

Bulk QR codes — Plus and up

Uploading a spreadsheet and getting a QR code per row is a paid feature, and specifically a Plus-and-above one: Starter does not include it. That is from $16/month billed annually. Free and Starter accounts can still make codes one at a time.

.xlsx / CSV / paste, up to 10MB per upload
Dynamic rows are editable and tracked
Password-protected rows from Plus

See pricing

Bulk barcodes — free, no account

If what your labels actually need is a barcode rather than a QR code, our barcode generator takes a pasted column or a CSV and renders up to 500 rows in one batch. There is no account check and no plan check anywhere in that code path — the 500 is a browser-memory limit that is identical for everyone, and signing in does not raise it.

500 rows, pasted column or CSV
ZIP of PNG or SVG, or a multi-page PDF
14 symbologies incl. Code 128, EAN-13, Data Matrix, PDF417
The PDF from this tool is genuine vector

Open the barcode generator

The trade-off is worth being blunt about. Barcodes from that tool are static: the value lives in the symbol, so there is no redirect to repoint, no scan counts, and no editing once the labels are printed. It also holds no barcode API and no dynamic barcode format. If the destination will ever change, or you need to know how often a label was scanned, you want a dynamic QR code and therefore the paid batch path. If your codes are permanent part numbers on a shelf, the free barcode run is the better tool and costs nothing.

A detail that makes pasting out of a sheet work well: copying two or more columns puts tab-separated text on your clipboard, and the parser treats a tab as evidence of structure. If the first row looks like a heading — sku, gtin, barcode — it reads that heading to decide which column holds the codes, so a name,sku export encodes the SKUs and not the product names. You can override the choice either way.

Reference

What Each Spreadsheet Row Can Become

Sixteen row types can be created from a spreadsheet. Every template starts with a type column and a title column, then the fields below — that is the full header row, in that order. Whether a row is dynamic or static is fixed by its type, and it decides two things: dynamic rows can be repointed later and collect scan data, and only dynamic rows count against your account's QR quota.

Every dynamic type ends with the same two optional columns, and both are easy to miss when you build the sheet by hand. A value in password means a scanner has to type that passphrase before the redirect resolves; it runs on the same plans bulk itself does, so if the upload goes through, the column works. (The password on a Wi-Fi row is a different thing entirely — that one is the network key the code hands to the phone.) A name in folder files every matching row into that folder in your dashboard and creates it on the spot if it does not exist yet, which is the quickest way to keep a thousand-row batch sorted by campaign. Static rows carry no folder column, so a folder name on a Wi-Fi or Text row is dropped.

Row type	Mode	Columns after type and title
URL	Dynamic	url, password, folder
Google Form	Dynamic	url, password, folder
App Stores	Dynamic	iosUrl, androidUrl, harmonyUrl, password, folder
Facebook	Dynamic	url, password, folder
Instagram	Dynamic	url, password, folder
YouTube	Dynamic	url, password, folder
TikTok	Dynamic	url, password, folder
X	Dynamic	url, password, folder
Pinterest	Dynamic	url, password, folder
Linktree	Dynamic	url, password, folder
Wi-Fi	Static	ssid, password, encryption
Email	Static	email, subject, message
SMS	Static	phone, message
Text	Static	text
Event	Static	location, start, end
GS1 Digital Link	Static	domain, gtin, lot, serial, expiry, cpv

Two things a spreadsheet cannot do here

There is no vCard row type, so a column of names, titles, and phone numbers will not become a batch of contact cards — put each person's card or profile URL in a URL row instead. And there is no file row type, so a spreadsheet listing PDFs will not upload those PDFs; a file QR code is made one at a time.

Why it matters

A Formula-Made Code Is Frozen the Moment You Print It

It depends on someone else's server

A code drawn by an image endpoint exists only while that endpoint answers. The best-known one answers 404 today, which is how sheets full of broken cells happen.

The link is baked in

Whatever URL was in the cell is encoded in the picture. Change the destination and every label already printed is wrong — there is nothing to update.

A dynamic code separates the two

A dynamic row encodes a short redirect, so the printed code stays valid while the destination moves, and each code reports its own scans.

This is the whole reason spreadsheet formulas lost this job. Print 500 product labels from a formula and one changed landing page wastes all 500. Print them from dynamic rows and you repoint them from your dashboard. See how scan tracking works.

Who does this

Spreadsheets That Turn Into Code Runs

The pattern is always the same: a column that already identifies something, and a need to put that identifier on a physical thing. A product export becomes a code per SKU for packaging. An asset register becomes a code per item of equipment, which is the workflow QR code inventory management covers end to end. A unit list becomes a Wi-Fi code per rental. A guest list becomes a code per attendee.

Two practical notes before a big run. Print a handful first and scan them on more than one phone — a batch is the worst place to discover a sizing problem, and our QR code size guide gives the distances. And if the codes are going on labels, decide the label stock before you decide the output format, because that is what tells you whether you want vector or raster files.

Excel & Google Sheets QR Codes — Frequently Asked Questions

: No. Neither application ships a worksheet function that makes a QR code — there is nothing named QRCODE, and no barcode function either. Microsoft's alphabetical list of Excel functions contains none, and Google's Sheets function list contains none. What both do have is an IMAGE function that displays a picture from an https address, which is why every spreadsheet QR tutorial is really a tutorial about pointing IMAGE at somebody else's image endpoint. That is a different thing from a native QR feature, and it comes with the limits of whatever service sits behind the address.
: Not when we checked it. On 30 July 2026 we requested that exact chart endpoint and it answered HTTP 404 — no image at all. Any sheet built on it shows broken cells rather than codes, and a workbook you shipped months ago can quietly stop rendering the moment a third-party endpoint changes. Excel adds a second problem even for endpoints that do work: Microsoft's own IMAGE documentation says a source URL that redirects is blocked for security reasons, so a shortened or redirecting QR image link will not render in a cell at all.
: Stop trying to make them inside the sheet and use the sheet as the input instead. Keep one row per code — a column of links, SKUs, or asset IDs — then either save that workbook as .xlsx, export it as CSV, or just paste the rows. QRKit's bulk generator reads the file, shows you the rows it parsed, lets you pick which column becomes the code, and builds one QR code per row. What bounds a single upload is the 10MB ceiling on the file or paste, not a row count. You get the whole batch back as one download instead of copying and pasting a generator 400 times.
: Bulk QR upload runs on the Plus plan and up, from $16/month billed annually. The gate in our code names those tiers exactly, and Starter is not one of them — Starter has the API and unlimited scans, but not bulk upload. Making, designing, and previewing a single QR code is free and needs no account; saving the file needs a free account. See pricing for the current figures in your currency.
: Yes, if barcodes rather than QR codes will do the job. Our barcode generator takes a pasted column or a CSV, renders up to 500 rows in one batch, and hands the whole set back as a ZIP of PNG or SVG files or a multi-page PDF. There is no account check and no plan check anywhere in that code path — the 500 is a browser-memory limit that is the same number for everyone, and signing in does not raise it. Fourteen symbologies are available, including Code 128, Code 39, EAN-13, UPC, Data Matrix, GS1 DataMatrix, Aztec and PDF417. The trade-off is real: a barcode made this way is static, so it carries no redirect, no scan counts, and cannot be repointed later.
: No. The uploader reads .xlsx workbooks directly, as well as .csv files, and it also accepts rows pasted straight out of a sheet. CSV is only worth the extra step if your workbook is doing something the parser does not need — several tabs, charts, or formulas that would rather be resolved before upload. If you would rather start from a known-good shape, download one of the starter files: every QR type offers one as both a .csv and an .xlsx, with the exact column headers that type expects.
: Every template starts with a type column and a title column, then the fields that type needs — url for a link row, ssid and password for Wi-Fi, email and subject for an email row, and so on. Sixteen types can be created in bulk: URL, Google Form, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, X, TikTok, Linktree, Pinterest, and App Stores rows are dynamic; Wi-Fi, Email, SMS, Text, Event, and GS1 Digital Link rows are static. Two things people expect that are not there: you cannot bulk-create the vCard type, and you cannot bulk-upload files, so a spreadsheet of PDFs is not something bulk does. For a batch of contact codes, put each person's card or profile URL in a URL row instead.
: Yes — Wi-Fi, Email, SMS, Text, Event, and GS1 Digital Link rows are all supported, and all six are static: the data is encoded into the image itself rather than behind a redirect. That has two consequences worth knowing before you print. Static rows do not count against your account's dynamic QR quota, which is why a batch of them is cheap in plan terms. But they also have no scan analytics and cannot be edited after the fact, and anything in the payload — a Wi-Fi password included — travels inside the code for anyone who scans it. See static QR codes for the full comparison.
: You can test one code, not a batch. The free plan allows one dynamic QR code, and that code stops redirecting once your account passes 100 scans in a month until the monthly reset — the cap is account-wide, not per-code. Static codes are not capped in number, a free QR download is a PNG capped at 1024px — SVG and PDF need a paid plan or the one-time Download Pack — and scan history is kept for 30 days. Downloads carry no watermark on any plan; on free, a dynamic code's scan page shows a small “Powered by QRKit” label, never the image file. For a genuinely free run over a whole column, the barcode path above is the honest answer.
: Not as live cell images from us — we hand you image files, not an add-in that writes pictures into your workbook. In practice that is what most people want anyway: the files go to a designer, a label template, or a print shop. If you do want them in the sheet, insert the downloaded images and keep the row order, which the batch preserves. Note the Excel constraint here as well: its IMAGE function needs an https source and blocks redirecting URLs, so pointing cells at a dynamic QR link is not a workable substitute for the image files.
: Yes, for the dynamic row types. URL, Google Form, App Stores, and the social types encode a redirect, so you can change the destination later and every printed code follows, and each one collects its own scan analytics. This is the reason a spreadsheet formula was never a good foundation for a product run: a formula-generated code bakes the link in, so a changed URL means reprinting everything. For the wider workflow, see the bulk QR code generator and QR code inventory management.
: Third-party add-ins and fonts exist, and we are not in a position to vouch for any of them — we have not audited what they upload, how long they stay compatible, or whether your organisation permits them. Two structural points hold regardless of which one you pick. A font or an offline add-in produces a static code, so the destination is fixed once the sheet is printed. And an add-in that calls a web service puts your links through somebody else's server, which is the same dependency that leaves broken cells behind when an endpoint disappears. Uploading the column once and getting image files back avoids both.

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into codes

Design one code free right here, with no account. When you are ready for the whole column, the dashboard uploader reads .xlsx, CSV, or pasted rows and builds one code per row on the Plus plan and up. Prefer free barcodes from a pasted column? That tool is ungated.

Make a code now

Running the whole batch? Bulk QR code generator · Barcodes from a column, free? Barcode generator · Tagging stock and equipment? QR code inventory management · Printing the results? QR code labels · Generating from code instead? QR code API.