Location QR Code Generator
Make a code that opens a map at your coordinates. Read the support notes below before you print it — this one is not universal.
Picking a spot
Press Pick on map and either click where you want the pin, search for a place by name or address, or press Use my location to drop it where you are standing. Drag the pin to fine-tune it. The coordinate boxes fill in as you go, and typing into them moves the pin, so you can work whichever way suits you.
If you already have coordinates — from Google Maps, a survey, or a colleague — just paste them into the boxes and skip the map entirely. Latitude goes first. Reversing the two is the classic mistake, and it puts your pin somewhere unrelated; as a rough check for India, latitude is about 8 to 37 and longitude about 68 to 97.
Four decimal places is accurate to roughly eleven metres, which identifies a building. The map fills in six, which is more than any printed code needs but costs only a few characters.
The map is the one part that talks to a server
Everywhere else on this site, nothing you enter leaves your browser. The map is the exception and it is worth being straightforward about it: opening it fetches tiles from OpenStreetMap, and searching for a place sends that search text to OpenStreetMap's Nominatim service. Those requests tell OSM roughly which part of the world you are looking at.
What does not happen: the coordinates you settle on are never sent anywhere. The QR code is still built in your browser, from the numbers in the boxes. And the map only loads if you open it — leave it closed, paste coordinates, and the page makes no external requests at all.
The map library itself is served from this site rather than a CDN, and there is no Google Maps embed here, so no advertising or analytics network is involved in the picker.
Support is genuinely uneven — read this before printing
The code holds a geo: URI, which is the actual standard for a geographic
point. Android handles it well: scanning hands the coordinates straight to the maps app.
On iPhone, behaviour varies by iOS version, and some versions show the
raw geo: text rather than offering to open Maps. This is the one payload
on this site where we cannot promise it works everywhere, and you should know that
before committing it to print.
If the code must work on every phone, use the Text & URL page
instead with an ordinary Google Maps link — something of the form
https://www.google.com/maps/search/?api=1&query=12.9716,77.5946. It is
a longer payload and a denser code, and it opens reliably on everything, because it is
just a web link. For a shop sign or a wedding invitation, that reliability is usually
worth more than using the technically correct format.
What the place name does
The optional name is added as a query label, so maps apps that support it show a named pin rather than bare coordinates. Apps that ignore it still get the coordinates from the first part of the payload, so adding a name never makes the code less usable — it only makes it slightly denser.
Frequently asked questions
Does this work on iPhone?
Not dependably. Android hands geo: URIs to the maps app; iOS behaviour varies by version, and some show the raw text instead. If the code has to work everywhere, encode a Google Maps web link on the Text & URL page instead — it is a longer payload but it opens on everything.
Do I have to find the coordinates myself?
No. Press Pick on map, then click the spot, search for it by name, or use your current location — the coordinates fill themselves in. The boxes stay editable if you would rather paste a pair you already have.
Does opening the map send my data anywhere?
Opening it fetches map tiles from OpenStreetMap, and searching sends your search text to OpenStreetMap's Nominatim service, so those requests reveal roughly where you are looking. The coordinates you choose are never sent anywhere — the code is still built in your browser. If you paste coordinates without opening the map, the page makes no external requests at all.
Why OpenStreetMap rather than Google Maps?
A Google Maps embed needs an API key tied to a billing account, and it would load Google's tracking onto a page that promises the opposite. OpenStreetMap needs neither, and the library is served from this site rather than a CDN.
Which order do they go in?
Latitude first, then longitude — the same order maps apps display them. Reversing them is the most common mistake and produces a pin somewhere entirely unrelated, so check the result before printing.
How many decimal places do I need?
Four is accurate to about eleven metres, which identifies a building. Six is accurate to about ten centimetres and is more precision than any use for a printed code requires.
Can I use an address instead of coordinates?
Not in the geo: format, which is defined in terms of coordinates. If you want an address, put a maps link on the Text & URL page — searching for an address is something the maps website does well and the geo: URI does not do at all.