How to scan a QR code on your screen on Windows

On Windows 11, press Win+Shift+S and snip the QR code, click the notification to open the snip in Snipping Tool, then click Text actions: recent versions of Snipping Tool detect the QR code and show its link. The Windows Camera app also scans QR codes and barcodes, but only through a webcam pointed at a physical code, not from your screen. For a faster route, press Ctrl+Shift+B in hypershot: it freezes the screen, decodes every QR code and barcode it can see, and copies the result (or gives you Copy and Open buttons if there’s more than one).

The built-in way: Snipping Tool

Microsoft added QR code detection to Snipping Tool’s Text actions in 2024, and it’s a good, private option: it runs on your PC.

1. Press Win+Shift+S (or PrtScn, which opens the same overlay on recent versions of Windows 11) and drag around the code. Include the whole code, with a little margin.
2. Click the notification to open the snip in Snipping Tool.
3. Click Text actions in the toolbar. The QR code is detected automatically and its link appears over the image.
4. Click the link to open it.

The limits: it’s three steps for something you want in one, it reads the code you snipped (so you need to aim at each one), and if Text actions doesn’t show a QR link, update Snipping Tool from the Microsoft Store. Windows 10’s older Snipping Tool doesn’t have Text actions.

The other built-in options

• Windows Camera. On Windows 10 and 11, the Camera app has a Barcode mode: hold a code up to the webcam and it reads it, then shows a link for a QR code or copyable text for a barcode. Great for a code on paper or your phone; useless for a code that’s already on your monitor.
• Your phone. Point its camera at the screen. Works, but the link ends up on the phone.
• Google Lens in Chrome. Choose Search with Google Lens from Chrome’s ⋮ menu (or right-click the page) and drag over the code. Lens generally recognizes QR codes. It only works on what’s in Chrome, and your selection goes to Google.

With hypershot: scan codes

1. Press Ctrl+Shift+B, or choose Scan codes (QR / barcode) from the tray menu or the Quick Access Panel.
2. Every connected screen freezes, and hypershot decodes every QR code and barcode it can see on all of them.
3. Each code gets a callout with its contents and a Copy button; links also get Open. If there’s exactly one code, it’s already on your clipboard.
4. Press Escape, or click empty space, to close.

No snip, no aiming, no notification to click.

What it does that the built-in tools don’t

• One keypress, every code. Three codes on a slide decode in one pass, each with its own callout, across all your monitors.
• Barcodes too. The decoder handles QR codes plus common barcode formats such as Code 128, EAN-13, Data Matrix and PDF417.
• Freezes first. Codes are read from a still frame, so a code in a playing video or a scrolling page doesn’t blur past recognition.
• Look before you open. The callout shows the decoded contents, so you can check where a link goes before you click Open.
• History when you want it. Codes you copy or open show up under Recent Codes in the tray menu. Wi-Fi and one-time-password codes are never kept, and Settings → Captures → Scan codes history turns it off.
• Local. The decoding is built into hypershot rather than a web service, and it works identically on Mac. hypershot runs on Windows 10 and later.

The QR code scanning docs have the rest.

If a code won’t scan

• Make it bigger. Zoom the page or document so the code is larger on screen.
• Uncover it. A code clipped by a window edge or half-hidden under the cursor won’t decode.
• Low-res streams. A code in a blurry video call may be too soft for any reader. Ask for the link in chat.

Is it safe to open a QR code link?

Treat it like any link from a stranger: read the decoded URL first and check the domain is the one you expect. That’s why hypershot shows the contents before you open them.

Can I copy text from the screen the same way?

Yes, with OCR capture. See how to copy text from a screenshot or image on Windows. On a Mac, see how to scan a QR code on your screen on Mac.