What a vCard QR code does
The code embeds a vCard 3.0 block — a tiny structured text record beginning with BEGIN:VCARD and listing your name, phone, email, and the rest. When a phone’s camera reads it, the operating system recognizes that block and offers to save it as a new contact, complete with the fields parsed into their proper slots. It’s a static code with no app, link, or account in the loop, so what you encode is exactly what the recipient gets — and it can’t be changed or revoked later.
Keep it scannable
A vCard packs far more text than a short URL, and the more fields you add the denser the QR grid becomes — its modules shrink, so it needs more print size and contrast to stay readable. Three things keep it dependable: include only the fields that matter, leave error correction at level H so the camera can recover from glare or a smudge, and keep dark modules on a light background with the full quiet-zone margin. The scannability check above runs a real in-browser decode and warns you the moment any of these tips into the danger zone.
Frequently asked questions
Which fields should I include?
A name plus a phone number or email is usually enough — that is what most people actually want saved. Every extra field (organization, title, website) lengthens the encoded vCard and makes the code denser, so add only what the recipient needs and let the rest go.
Why didn't the contact save when someone scanned it?
Almost always it scanned fine but the phone showed an "Add contact" prompt that was dismissed, or the code was too dense to read at the size it was printed. Trim the fields, keep error correction high, and confirm the live decode test passes before you print.
Will the code expire or stop working?
No. This is a static vCard — the contact details are baked into the QR image itself, with no short link, redirect, or account behind it. It keeps working for as long as the printed or saved image exists.
Is my contact information uploaded anywhere?
No. The vCard is assembled and rendered to an image entirely in your browser using JavaScript. Nothing you type — and no logo you add — is ever sent to a server, which is why there is no account and nothing to delete.
Related
References
This tool’s QR generation and scannability checks are grounded in the following standards and primary sources.
- ISO/IEC 18004 — QR Code bar code symbology specification — ISO/IEC — the governing QR standard
- Error Correction Feature — DENSO WAVE — the QR inventor on Reed-Solomon levels (L/M/Q/H)
- RFC 2426 — vCard MIME Directory Profile (vCard 3.0) — IETF — the contact-card grammar this tool emits
- qr-code-styling — Denys Kozak (MIT) — the client-side renderer used here
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