Making your Wi-Fi card
- Type the network name exactly as it appears in the Wi-Fi list on your phone, including capitals and spaces, and the password. Both stay on this page; the preview and the code are computed in your browser.
- Pick the security type. Nearly every home router uses WPA, WPA2 or WPA3, which share one setting here. Choose None for an open network and turn on Hidden network if your router does not show its name.
- Change the title if you like, choose Sign for one large card or Cards for four to cut out, pick the paper and a color, and download the PDF.
The QR code appears as soon as the name and the password are filled in. Leave both empty for a blank card with lines to write on by hand.
Why the password prints in a typewriter font
Most people who use the card will scan the code, but some phones, laptops and older e-readers need the password typed in. In the usual print fonts, a lowercase l, a capital I and the digit 1 are almost identical, and a capital O looks like a zero. The password therefore prints in Courier, a monospaced font in which every character has its own distinct shape and the same width, so that each one can be counted and read out letter by letter.
If your password contains characters that are easy to confuse even so, consider changing it on the router before you print: a short phrase of three or four random words is easy to type and easy to read out loud. The password generator makes such passphrases, or a random string without look-alike characters, and the password strength checker tells you how a candidate holds up before you change the router setting.
Where to put the sign
The sign layout fills one page with a frame around the card, which looks finished in a standard picture frame on a shelf, by the guest bed or next to the coffee machine. A sheet protector or a laminating pouch keeps a sign in a kitchen or a workshop clean. For a holiday rental, put one in the entrance and one in the living room; guests look for the code in the first five minutes after they arrive.
The cards layout prints four smaller cards on one sheet with dashed cut lines. Those fit on a bedside table, in the welcome folder of a rental, on the table in a waiting room or taped inside a cupboard door in a shared office. Print on light cardstock so the cards stand up on their own when folded along the top edge, or slip them into a small acrylic stand.
Guest networks and changing the password
If your router offers a separate guest network, print the card for that one. Guests then reach the internet but not your printers, drives or smart home devices, and you can change the guest password at any time without touching your own devices.
When you change the password, print a new card right away and throw the old one in the bin: a card with an outdated password causes more support calls than no card at all. Come back to this page and type the new password; nothing is stored here.
Checking that the code works
Before you frame the sign, scan the printed code with a phone that is not yet connected to the network. The camera should offer to join the network by name; tap it and open a web page. If the phone shows a block of text starting with WIFI instead, it is an older model that needs the password typed in, which is why the card prints it. If nothing happens, make sure the print is sharp and not scaled down too far, and that the room is bright enough for the camera.
To learn more about how such codes are built, the QR code generator makes codes for links, contact cards, calendar events and Wi-Fi networks with your own colors and size, and the what is my IP tool shows the public address your connection uses once you are online, which helps when you set up a router or check that the guest network is separate.
More printables for guests
The printable emergency contact list belongs next to the Wi-Fi card in a rental or a babysitter's folder, with the address of the house and the numbers to call. For a guest room, the password log keeps the router details, the streaming logins and the alarm code together in one drawer, with the password column left off unless you turn it on.
Frequently asked questions
Is my Wi-Fi password sent anywhere?
No. The page runs entirely in your browser: the QR code is computed on your device with a small open-source library, the preview is drawn on this page and the PDF is written here too. Nothing you type is sent to our server or anyone else, and nothing is stored when you close the tab. You can check it yourself: load the page, turn off your internet connection, and it still works.
Is the Wi-Fi card free?
Yes. Type your network details, download the PDF and print it for your guest room, a holiday rental, a cafe or the office. There is no signup and no watermark; one small line at the bottom of the sheet names our website, outside the card.
How does the QR code connect a phone?
The code holds the network name, the password and the security type in the standard Wi-Fi format that phones understand. Guests open the camera app, point it at the code and tap the prompt to join; many phones do this without any extra app. If a phone shows the text instead of a prompt, the guest can still read the name and password from the card and type them in.
Why does the password print in a typewriter font?
In most fonts a lowercase l, a capital I and the digit 1 look nearly the same, as do a capital O and a zero. The password prints in Courier, where every character has its own clear shape and the same width, so a guest who types it by hand can tell them apart. The network name prints in the normal font, since it is usually a word.
What if I have no password or a hidden network?
Choose None under Security for an open network; the card then has no password line and the code only carries the name. Turn on Hidden network when your router does not broadcast the name, so the phone knows to look for it. WPA, WPA2 and WPA3 all use the same setting in the code, so pick WPA for any of them; WEP is only for very old routers.
Why are some characters missing from my text?
The printed text uses the standard Helvetica and Courier fonts, which cover English and most Western European letters, but no emoji and no other scripts such as Greek, Cyrillic or Chinese. Those characters are left out of the printed text, and a note under the fields tells you when that happens. The QR code always holds the password exactly as you typed it, so scanning still works; only the printed line is simplified.