Barcode scanner

Start the camera and hold a code in view, or choose a photo or screenshot. Each code is listed once, however many times it is read.

This tool needs JavaScript. Everything it does runs in your browser — no image or code you scan is sent anywhere.

The camera picture and your images never leave your device: the decoder runs in this page. The camera is only switched on when you press the button, and off again when you stop or leave.

How to scan a barcode with this page

  1. Press "Start camera" and allow the camera when the browser asks. On a phone the rear camera is used.
  2. Hold the code so it fills about half the frame, flat and steady. A linear code reads best with the bars upright and the whole width, including the blank margins at each end, in view.
  3. Each new code joins the list with its type. Keep going for a whole shelf; a code already listed is counted, not added again.
  4. Copy all puts the codes on the clipboard one per line, and Download CSV saves the type, text, time and read count for a spreadsheet.

When a code will not read

  • Too close or too far. Phone cameras cannot focus a few centimeters away. Back off and let the code be smaller.
  • Glare. A glossy label under a light reflects a white stripe that hides bars. Tilt it slightly.
  • Cropped margins. The blank space either side of a linear code is part of the code. A photo that cuts it off often fails.
  • A screenshot is easiest. If the code is on a screen, a screenshot read with the photo or screenshot picker is sharper than a camera pointed at the screen.

Formats it reads

Code 128, Code 39, Code 93, Codabar, EAN-13, EAN-8, UPC-A, UPC-E, ITF, GS1 DataBar, Data Matrix, PDF417, Aztec, MaxiCode and QR codes in their usual forms.