Building a Mac Shortcut To Easily Generate QR Codes

You can use the Shortcuts app to make QR codes that link to web pages. Once you have a Shortcut, you can easily reuse it to share a QR code, save it as an image, or even just copy to the clipboard to paste into a document you are working on.

Comments: 14 Responses to “Building a Mac Shortcut To Easily Generate QR Codes”

    nick
    2 years ago

    Great video Gary, thanks.Just so happens we're making flyers for a volunteer organization so this couldn't have come at a better time !! Always amazed at how user-friendly the Mac environment is.

    lauren eisen
    2 years ago

    love this! thank you gary

    nick
    2 years ago

    Gary: just fyi when I control-click to select the Name for the Saved File, my context menu shows "Select Magic Variable", maybe a difference based on OS version? I'm running 12.4

    Doug Rogers
    2 years ago

    Hey, Thanks. Everything below getting the frontmost page details works. "Get current webpage from Safari" balks and doesn't link to or pass anything below it. :-(

    Cyrus Dubash
    2 years ago

    Thanks for this Gary I tried creating a shortcut from my contact that is saved in my phone so I can easily share it with people. But only the first name shows up after the QR code is scanned.

    How do I generate a QR code for my Contact?

    thanks

    2 years ago

    Cyrus: Not sure what you did to create the QR code, but I don't think you can do that in Shortcuts. QR codes usually just go to a web URL or show some text. So maybe have the QR code go to a page on your website with your contact info?

    Roger Bird
    2 years ago

    Hi Gary,
    I only seem to be able to get the Shortcuts App for Iphone or Ipad. Is there an App for Mac as you seem to be using or am I thick!!!

    2 years ago

    Roger: Yes, the Shortcuts app was introduced with macOS Monterey.

    Phyllis Capanna
    2 years ago

    Another resource to explore! How did you get the Shortcuts app icon onto your menu bar up top??

    2 years ago

    Phyllis: In at least one Shortcut, have the setting "Pin In Menu Bar" turned on.

    JL
    2 years ago

    Hi Cyrus! I know this is late, but I found this on the Apple forum, just look up "Make QR Code" in the Shortcuts Gallery, run it and select "Add Contact", then select your contact information. It will generate the QR code.

    Tom Gonser
    1 year ago

    Excellent resource! One minor issue - my image shows on the desktop as a generic png file. I'd much prefer it to show as a QR code as your demo produces. Any hints on that? Tom

    1 year ago

    Tom: Do you see other icons for image files as previews, or not? Maybe you have View, Show View Options, Show Icon Preview turned off for that folder?

    Daniel
    12 months ago

    This does indeed create a QR code, but not one that automatically takes you to the web page; instead, it just allows you to search for the web address. I think it's because the QR code does not include either "http://" or "https://". I don't know if this is behavior that was introduced with system changes since this shortcut was initially published, but suffice it to say that entering http://someURL into the text box of the Generate QR Code item in Shortcuts works; omitting the http:// does not.

Comments Closed.