If you create an offline QR Code all content is encoded in the QR Code itself. You do not need an Internet connection to access the content. One big disadvantage of offline QR Codes is that once they are printed their content cannot be changed in comparison to dynamic QR Codes. There are various types of offline QR Codes explained below. You can create those types of QR Codes on your own by clicking on each of them or go straight to our free QR Code Generator.
Text
The simplest information you can encode in a QR Code is a text message containing up to 4.296 chars.
vCard
If you plan to print a QR Code on your business card you may want to use a vCard. A QR Code with a vCard encoded provides contact information that can be added to the phones address book immediately after scanning.
Again: once your address changes you need to re-create the QR Code with updated address information. However you can also create QR Codes with dynamic vCards encoded.
Event
With an Event QR Code people can scan a QR Code and directly add your event to their calender.
Call
Initiate a call with a QR Code. The user is offered to dial a number after scanning the QR Code.
Create a QR Code to init Phone Call
SMS
A QR Code with a ready to send text message is an SMS QR Code. After the user scans the QR Code he can send the text encoded in the QR Code to any mobile number or to a predefined number of your choice.
Like you can create an SMS QR Code the same applies to E-Mails. Encode an E-mail with subject, recipient and body in a QR Code and the E-Mail is ready to sent after the users scans the QR Code.

This QR Code will send an E-Mail to us with the subject “qrd.by rocks” and “test” in the message body.
Create QR Code to send an E-Mail
Wi-Fi
For Android Phones this handy QR Code type can connect you to a Wi-Fi Hotspot right away. New: Since the release of the latest OS on Apple devices, QR Codes can be read with the native camera app on ios11 and you can also connect to a Wi-Fi with an iPhone.
Create QR Code to connect to Wifi
SEPA
European Payments Council (EPC) published ‘Quick Response Code: Guidelines to Enable Data Capture for the Initiation of a Credit Transfer’ (PDF) in February 2013. Thanks to this great standarization job, you can create a QR Code that contains the payment information in your invoices. Customers can pay using this functionality in your bank App (if available) only scanning the QR Code.

This QR Code will prepare a payment to Joe Doe’s account DE91 1000 0000 0123 4567 89 for $100 with “Demo payment” statement
Geo GPS
With a GPS QR Code you can navigate a user to a location. The QR Code has a lng/lat pair encoded. After a user scans the QR Code the Map App will open on the mobile device with the location centered on the map.

This QR Code has the longitude/latitude 48.267,16.390 encoded which navigates you directly to our company.
You can create all these types of QR Codes and more with our free QR Code Generator here:
Can I use QR code at my restaurant for my guest to view the menu without internet? What methods are possible?
Hello John,
Yes, of course, you can use QR Codes in your restaurant in so many ways. Especially these days because of the COVID-19, when any contactless technologies and solutions are so helpful.
Actually, we have published a post on this topic today: https://blog.qrd.by/2020/05/25/qr-code-restaurant-menus
You are asking about offline methods. If you use static codes you will be missing out most of the possibilities that QR Codes have to offer.
You will not have the ability to update the destination URL, use multimedia contents, or get any insights/analytics on what is going on with your QR Codes.
https://blog.qrd.by/2016/03/03/static-versus-dynamic-qr-code/
That said, if you still want to use offline QR Codes you will be limited to the amount of information you can fit into the QR Code, which is a lot, but the more text you type the harder it gets to read. You would also need a very large QR Code to fit, for example, your restaurant menu. And again, you would not be able to embed any image or format your content.
Here you have an example of how an offline static QR Code menu would look like:

You could also offer them the possibility to connect to your WIFI using a static QR Code. You can create one here for free:
https://qrd.by/#more (WIFI)
A QR Code management platform like ours allows you to create dynamic QR Codes and landing pages for different types and sizes of businesses. You are more than welcome to test it here: https://qrd.by/features
Hi, is it possible to create a QR code to display a PDF without going via a URL?
No, for two reasons:
How about using Barcode.PDF417 type?
Hello Jay, we do not and will not support PDF417 barcodes. QR Codes can be read by almost any smartphone without using a third-party app. PDF417 are a proprietary format that is not recognized by people and it needs a special app to decode. Best Regards, Peter
Hello this may sound weird but hear me out…..
Is there a way to make an offline qr code to point to a static ip address? Long story short I host karaoke and have a remote server request service, I setup a wireless network with no Internet and I can get to this service by typing the 192.168.1.200 but I would like to have my clients scan a qr code without typing in this address everytime, as I understand an offline code cannot be changed hence the static ip address. I hope I gave enough detail and hope to get a quick response
Hello, you can create a static QR Code with the URL http://192.168.1.200
This URL will redirect the user to the karaoke landing page when they are connected to your WLAN.
But you can use the same URL and create a dynamic QR Code with a human friendly readable URL e.g. https://qrd.by/karaoke -> http://192.168.1.200
Let me know how it worked out for you,
Best Regards,
Peter
This is a domain I use with my website .. I want an easy way for my Customers and anyone who has my advertising to go to my website without having to key it in and I will be using it on Print of course like flyers and business cards, Banners.. and online on like FB, linked in, wherever I can load it to.. I have no idea how to do this what is a Vcard and Sms..
Thank You In Advance Great tool
Hello Sherry, QR Codes are really a usefull tool to drive trafic from the real world to your digital content. One hint: Don’t just link to your website. Always link to a landing page that is optimzed for mobile phones with relevant content. Read more about the 9 golden rules of how to use QR Codes here: https://qrd.by/9-tips-how-to-use-qr-codes
vCard is a simple file format to store contact information (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VCard).
You can also use this format in a QR Code, learn more about here: https://blog.qrd.by/2015/06/23/dynamic-vcard-qr-code
Best Regards,
Peter