A phone QR code holds a single telephone number in the tel: form that every recent camera app understands. Scan it and the phone offers to call that number, with the digits already in place, so nobody has to read a number off a sign and type it while walking.

This tool builds that code in your browser. The number you type goes into the image you download and nowhere else. Nothing is sent to a server, and the page keeps no record of it.

What the code contains

The string is tel: followed by the number, the same tel: link a website uses for a tap-to-call button. Both iOS and Android recognise it from a QR code and show a prompt to call. The call does not start on its own; the person still confirms it, which is what you want from a code on a public sign.

Spaces, brackets, dots and dashes are removed before encoding, so +91 (22) 1234-5678 becomes tel:+912212345678. A leading plus sign is kept. The panel under the preview shows the exact string, so you can check it before you print.

Which numbers are accepted

The tool accepts 4 to 15 digits, optionally starting with a plus sign. Anything else, such as letters, an extension written as ext. 204, or a three-digit short code, is rejected with the message: A phone number should be digits, optionally starting with +. Extensions cannot be encoded here; put the extension in the printed text next to the code instead.

Write the number in international form, country code first, whenever the code might be scanned by a visitor from abroad or on a phone with a foreign SIM. A local number with a leading zero, such as 022 1234 5678, is encoded exactly as typed and only dials correctly from inside the same country.

Where a call code earns its place

A phone code suits anything a person reads while standing or driving past: a van or shop window with a booking line, a service sticker on a boiler or lift with the maintenance number, a for-sale board, an emergency contact on a site hoarding, a helpline poster. In each case the person wants to call now, and typing a number from a sign is where mistakes happen.

A tel: string is short, so the code has few modules and prints clearly at small sizes. That makes it one of the better types for a business card or a label where space is tight.

Printing it

Download the SVG for anything that will be printed. It scales to a sticker or a banner without going blurry, where a PNG has a fixed pixel size. For screens and documents the PNG is fine, and the resolution slider sets how large it is.

Keep the quiet zone, the blank border around the code, at two modules or more, and keep dark modules on a light background. Print the number in plain text beside the code as well, for anyone whose phone or eyesight does not cooperate with a scan.

Frequently asked questions