# QR code on phone or webpage. **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 25, 2017, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/qr-code-on-phone-or-webpage/792110 "2017-07-25T21:31:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Doug\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@Doug\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_K)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2017, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/qr-code-on-phone-or-webpage/792110/1 "2017-07-25T21:31:02Z")
Google has not been my friend on this. I need to access a QR code, but I can’t scan it. The reason I can’t scan it is it’s ON MY PHONE and my camera can’t scan my own screen. Is there a way to read a QR code that exists as an image on my Android device? ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2017, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/qr-code-on-phone-or-webpage/792110/2 "2017-07-25T21:33:38Z")
Take a screenshot of the QR code on your phone. Email the picture to yourself. Pull the email up on a computer and use your phone to scan it. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2017, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/qr-code-on-phone-or-webpage/792110/3 "2017-07-25T21:35:57Z")
> [@Doug\_K](#): > > Google has not been my friend on this. I need to access a QR code, but I can’t scan it. The reason I can’t scan it is it’s ON MY PHONE and my camera can’t scan my own screen. Is there a way to read a QR code that exists as an image on my Android device? The situations I’ve seen, if the QR code is being displayed in a website, the image of the code itself is a clickable hyperlink, taking you to the URL encoded in the code. None of this applies if this necessary precondition isn’t in place, however, and you may be stuck with **Whack-a-Mole** ’s somewhat roundabout workaround. ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@Doug\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_K)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2017, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/qr-code-on-phone-or-webpage/792110/4 "2017-07-25T21:41:18Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > Take a screenshot of the QR code on your phone. > > Email the picture to yourself. > > Pull the email up on a computer and use your phone to scan it. Not an option when the only device I have access to at the time is my phone. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2017, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/qr-code-on-phone-or-webpage/792110/5 "2017-07-25T21:42:28Z")
> [@Doug\_K](#): > > Not an option when the only device I have access to at the time is my phone. Have someone near you use their phone to scan it off your phone and see where it goes. ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@Doug\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_K)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2017, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/qr-code-on-phone-or-webpage/792110/6 "2017-07-25T21:51:49Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > Have someone near you use their phone to scan it off your phone and see where it goes. Not an option in this case, either. Also, and I hope this doesn’t come across as snippier than intend, it doesn’t answer the question. I can accept (but not like) that the answer may well be “no”. ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2017, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/qr-code-on-phone-or-webpage/792110/7 "2017-07-25T21:55:14Z")
You can take a screenshot of the QR code and use the Google Goggles app to load it and read it: [https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.apps.unveil](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.apps.unveil) ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@Doug\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_K)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2017, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/qr-code-on-phone-or-webpage/792110/8 "2017-07-25T22:31:46Z")
> [@Reply](#): > > You can take a screenshot of the QR code and use the Google Goggles app to load it and read it: > [https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.apps.unveil](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.apps.unveil) Thanks! That works perfectly. ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2017, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/qr-code-on-phone-or-webpage/792110/9 "2017-07-26T02:17:00Z")
You bet. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2017, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/qr-code-on-phone-or-webpage/792110/10 "2017-07-26T03:38:45Z")
What if you held the phone up to a mirror and then scanned the image in the mirror? Do mirror-image QR codes work? ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2017, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/qr-code-on-phone-or-webpage/792110/11 "2017-07-26T04:50:25Z")
Yes, but it shows you a mirror image of the webpage. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2017, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/qr-code-on-phone-or-webpage/792110/12 "2017-07-26T05:01:10Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > What if you held the phone up to a mirror and then scanned the image in the mirror? Do mirror-image QR codes work? Can you scan a code with the front camera, which would be the one facing the mirror? I thought you had to scan with the rear camera. ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@Doug\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_K)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2017, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/qr-code-on-phone-or-webpage/792110/13 "2017-07-26T23:49:36Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > What if you held the phone up to a mirror and then scanned the image in the mirror? Do mirror-image QR codes work? > [@cochrane](#): > > Can you scan a code with the front camera, which would be the one facing the mirror? I thought you had to scan with the rear camera. I had thought of that, but my scanner app uses the back camera, and even if it didn’t the screen then shows the camera, not the image. But the Google Goggles app works great, although the icons were not exactly intuitive. ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2017, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/qr-code-on-phone-or-webpage/792110/14 "2017-07-27T00:40:44Z")
> [@Doug\_K](#): > > I had thought of that, but my scanner app uses the back camera, and even if it didn’t the screen then shows the camera, not the image. But the Google Goggles app works great, although the icons were not exactly intuitive. Right? Google has a tendency to make powerful software hidden behind oversimplified UIs. It’s always a case of “what does this icon mean?”. First you secret-swipe, then you shishkabob, then you hamburger and three-finger pull-down and click the box with the shape inside… 😕