How to Scan a QR Code on an Android Phone
On most current Android phones there is nothing to install. Tap the Quick Settings tile, point your camera app at the code, use Circle to Search for a code already on screen — or check the Samsung Galaxy steps.
Start here
Does Android Have a Built-In QR Code Reader?
On most current Android phones, yes — and you do not need to install a scanner app. There are four built-in routes: swipe down and tap the “Scan QR code” tile in Quick Settings; point your camera app at the code and wait for a banner rather than taking a photo; use Circle to Search for a code that is already on your screen; or use Google Lens, which also reads QR codes.
It varies by manufacturer and model, and it is worth being honest about that. Google says the QR mode in Camera from Google is available only on selected devices, Circle to Search is available on select Android devices, and both Pixel and Samsung put camera QR detection behind a setting that can be switched off. The sections below give the exact setting names so you can check your own phone in a few seconds.
Trying to read a code that is on the screen in front of you right now, or an image file on a computer? Use our free browser scanner. On an iPhone or another device instead? See the guide to scanning a QR code on every device.
Method 1
The Quick Settings QR Tile
This is the fastest route and the one most guides leave out entirely. It is a dedicated scanner that is already on your phone, reachable from Quick Settings without opening an app. Both Google and Samsung document it.
Pixel and stock Android
Step 1: Swipe down from the top of the screen.
Step 2: Tap Scan QR code. If you can't see the tile, swipe left to find more buttons, or tap the pencil icon to add it.
Step 3: Point the phone at the code and tap the result.
Samsung Galaxy
Step 1: Using two fingers, swipe down from the top of the screen to open the Quick settings panel.
Step 2: Tap the Scan QR code icon.
Step 3: Point at the code. From this same window you can turn on the flashlight and open the Gallery app.
Source: Samsung — Ways to scan a QR code on your Galaxy phone or tablet.
The two-finger detail matters on Samsung. A one-finger swipe pulls down the notification shade, where the tile may not be visible. Two fingers opens the full Quick settings panel in one gesture. That single difference is an easy way to conclude your phone has no scanner when it does.
Method 2
Your Camera App — and the Setting That Silently Blocks It
Pointing the camera at a code is the method everyone tries first. When it does nothing, the usual advice is “install a scanner app” — which is almost always wrong. On both Pixel and Samsung the feature sits behind a named toggle, and turning it on fixes it. Here is exactly what that toggle is called on each.
Pixel: turn on “Camera scan suggestions”
Google's Pixel Camera documentation puts the setting at Settings > More settings > Camera scan suggestions, and it has to be turned on for the camera to offer QR results. Once it is on, open the camera, hold the code in the frame, and wait for the suggestion to appear — you do not press the shutter.
Samsung Galaxy: check “Scan QR codes” in Camera settings
Samsung's support page says to open the Camera app and make sure PHOTO is selected at the bottom, then hold the code in the viewfinder. If nothing happens, tap the Settings icon inside the Camera app and turn on the switch next to Scan QR codes.
Source: Samsung — Ways to scan a QR code on your Galaxy phone or tablet.
Camera from Google: there is a “QR” mode button
If your phone ships Camera from Google, its documentation gives you two options: tap QR to scan in the dedicated QR mode, or simply point the camera at a code in the default photo mode, then tap the banner that appears. Google notes this feature is available only on selected devices — and that you can't scan a QR code in portrait or video mode, which is a common reason nothing happens.
On other manufacturers, it varies. Android phones from other brands ship their own camera apps, and we are not going to invent tap paths for hardware we can't cite documentation for. If the steps above don't match your phone, the Quick Settings tile in Method 1 is the most reliable place to look next, followed by your camera app's own settings screen — the option is usually worded something like “scan QR codes”.
Method 3
Circle to Search, for a Code Already on Your Screen
This is the case people actually get stuck on. Your camera can only see what is in front of the lens, so it can never read your own display. Circle to Search solves it without a second phone: it reads what is on screen, in place.
Step 1: With the QR code visible on screen, press and hold the home button — or the navigation handle, if you use gesture navigation.
Step 2: Circle the QR code with your finger.
Step 3: Tap the result to open it.
Google states that Circle to Search is currently available on select Android devices, and that it may already be active on many phones or can be switched on in Settings. We're deliberately not naming an Android version number here, because Google doesn't. Source: Android — How do you scan QR codes on Android?
What about Google Lens?
Google Lens reads QR codes too — Google's Pixel Camera documentation says so directly, in one line, without saying where to find it. What we are not going to give you is a numbered tap path, and that is a deliberate choice: Google documents the capability and not a location, so any fixed sequence of taps we printed here would be guesswork and wrong for some readers. For everyday scanning, the Quick Settings tile is documented end to end and faster anyway.
Already saved the code as a screenshot or been sent it as an image? That has its own walkthrough: scanning a QR code from a screenshot or saved image. At a desk with an image file and no phone in hand, upload it to our free browser scanner instead.
Samsung
How to Scan a QR Code on a Samsung Galaxy
Galaxy phones behave slightly differently from stock Android, so it's worth pulling the Samsung specifics together in one place. Samsung's current support page documents three ways in.
Quick settings
Swipe down from the top of the screen with two fingers, then tap the Scan QR code icon. The flashlight and a shortcut to the Gallery app sit in the same window.
The Camera app
Open Camera with PHOTO selected at the bottom and frame the code. If nothing happens, open the Camera app's settings and turn on Scan QR codes.
Other apps
Samsung notes that other apps on your Galaxy device may open the Camera app to scan a code for you — Smart Switch does this during setup, for example.
A code already on your Galaxy's screen? Screenshot it, then open the Quick settings scanner with a two-finger swipe and use its Gallery shortcut to pick the screenshot — Samsung documents that the scanner window can open the Gallery app. If your phone has Circle to Search, the press-and-hold route skips the screenshot entirely.
Everything in this section comes from Samsung's own support page. If an older guide sent you somewhere else in Settings, check it against that page before following it — Samsung's current guidance is the Quick settings tile and the Camera app.
No app required
You Don't Need to Install a QR Scanner App
If you have been told to start by downloading a QR scanner app, you don't have to take our word for the alternative — look at what the two companies that make the software actually say.
Google's own consumer article doesn't recommend one. It walks through the camera app, the Quick Settings scanner icon and Circle to Search, and where it mentions third-party scanner tools at all, it frames them as the tricky workaround that Circle to Search removes.
Samsung documents three built-in routes. Quick settings, the Camera app, and other apps invoking the camera. No download is part of any of them.
The built-in scanners show you where you're going. Android's camera and Quick Settings scanner surface the destination as a banner or suggestion you have to tap — Google's documentation describes waiting for that banner rather than taking a picture. That gap is your chance to read the domain before anything opens.
Two honest exceptions. If you're on a desktop, or you have an image file rather than a printed code, use our free browser scanner — no install, and it works from any browser. And if you genuinely want a dedicated app anyway — for batch scanning, say, or for keeping a history of what you've scanned — we compared the options in our roundup of QR scanner apps.
Worth separating two things that sound alike: you don't need an app to scan, but a code can still send you to one. That is what an app download QR code does — it routes Android scanners to Google Play and iPhone scanners to the App Store from the same printed code.
Troubleshooting
Why Won't My Android Phone Scan QR Codes?
Work down this list in order — it's sorted by how often each one turns out to be the real cause.
- The scan setting is off. On a Pixel, turn on Settings > More settings > Camera scan suggestions. On a Samsung Galaxy, turn on Scan QR codes in the Camera app's settings. A camera with this switched off looks exactly like a broken one.
- You're in the wrong camera mode. Google documents that you can't scan a QR code in portrait or video mode — switch back to the standard photo mode.
- The lens is smudged. Wipe it. It's mundane, and it's easy to skip past.
- The lighting is wrong. In a dim room, use the flashlight — the Samsung Quick settings scanner has one built in. In bright light, tilt the phone to kill the glare on a glossy print or a screen.
- The code is too far away or too small in frame. Move so the code fills a decent share of the viewfinder, then hold still for a second or two.
- The code itself is the problem. A damaged, low-contrast or badly printed code won't read on any phone — that isn't your Android's fault.
If you've worked through all six and a specific code still won't read on any phone, the problem has moved from your handset to the code. Our QR code not working guide covers that in depth, and QR code size and quiet zone explains why some printed codes are simply too small to scan.
Safety
Is It Safe to Scan QR Codes on Android?
Scanning itself is safe — a QR code is just an encoded string of text, and Android shows you what it found before it takes you anywhere. The risk lives at the other end of the link, which is why that preview step is worth using rather than skipping.
Read the domain in the banner before you tap it, and be suspicious of a sticker stuck on top of an existing code on a parking meter, a poster or a payment terminal — that is the cheapest attack there is. Never type payment or login details into a page you reached only by scanning an unfamiliar code. We covered the current scam patterns, with FBI and FTC guidance, in our guide to QR code scams.
Scanning QR Codes on Android — FAQ
Want to create one instead?
Make a QR Code of Your Own
Scanning and creating are two different jobs. If you landed here wanting to make a code — for a poster, a card, a package, or your WiFi network — you can build one free and check it straight away with the scanner steps above. Creating is free; downloading the file needs a free account.