Event QR code generator
One scan and the event is in the calendar with the right date, time and place, instead of typed in wrongly or not at all. Built in your browser, sent nowhere.
The time is saved without a time zone, so it lands in the calendar as the local clock time you typed.
Showing an example. Start typing to make it yours.
Best for screens and social.
This QR code is static.
Once it is printed you cannot change where it points, and you cannot see how many times it was scanned. For most uses that is perfectly fine.
If you want a code you can repoint later and measure, dynamic QR is free in the MEO app.
How to make one
- Enter the event title as you want it to appear in the calendar.
- Set the start and end. An event with no end time shows up in some calendars as an all-day block, which is rarely what you meant.
- Add the location as a plain address, so the calendar can offer directions.
- Check the preview, then download SVG for print or PNG for a poster mock-up or a social post.
- Print at 10 cm or more for a poster, since event codes are usually read from a distance.
What the code puts in the calendar
The code carries a small calendar entry, the same format a calendar invitation uses: a title, a start, an end and a location. The phone reads it and offers to add the event. Nothing is saved until the person confirms, and no invitation is sent to anyone.
Because it is a calendar entry and not a link, it works with no internet and it cannot be cancelled or updated later. If your event moves, everyone who already scanned keeps the old time. For anything likely to move, point a code at an event page instead and change the page.
The time zone trap
A time written without a zone is read as the local time of whoever scans it. For a physical event that is usually right: a concert at 20:00 is 20:00 where the concert is, and everyone scanning the poster is standing there.
It is wrong for an online event with an audience in several countries. Someone scanning in another zone gets the event at their own local 20:00, which is the wrong hour. For online events, put the zone in the title, in plain words, and expect people to adjust it themselves.
Where an event code earns its place
On a printed poster, a flyer or a slide at the end of a talk, where the alternative is someone typing a date into a phone while walking. It saves the one step people most often skip, and a date typed wrongly is worse than no date at all.
It is less useful anywhere the person is already looking at a screen. If they can tap, an "add to calendar" link does the same job with fewer steps than pointing a camera at their own monitor.
Frequently asked questions
- Does scanning invite people or tell me who is coming?
- No. It adds an entry to their own calendar and nothing is sent back. If you need a guest list, link to a registration page instead.
- What happens if the event moves?
- Anyone who already scanned keeps the old details, because the details are inside the pattern. For an event that might move, point a code at an event page you can edit.
- Which calendar apps support it?
- Apple Calendar and Google Calendar both read these codes from the built-in camera. Some third-party calendar apps do not, and will hand the text to a notes app instead.
- How do time zones work?
- The time is read as local time where the phone is. That is right for a physical event and wrong for an online one with an international audience. For online events, name the zone in the event title.