Turn a YouTube link into a QR code
Paste a YouTube video, playlist, or channel link — or just the 11-character video ID — and get a QR code that opens it instantly. Put it on a slide, a flyer, business card, or product packaging so people can jump straight to your content with a phone camera.
How it works
The tool first normalises whatever you paste. A bare 11-character ID is expanded
to a full watch?v= URL. A full link is parsed and rebuilt keeping only three
parameters — v (video), list (playlist) and t (start time) — so referral and
campaign tracking tags are stripped out. The cleaned URL is then encoded into a QR
code on a canvas using medium (level M) error correction, drawn in YouTube red on
white. You can save it as a PNG raster or a scalable SVG vector.
Because the destination URL is baked directly into the pattern, the code never expires and needs no shortener or redirect service.
When a YouTube QR code is most useful
Printed materials. Presentations, posters, flyers, and event programmes can link to a tutorial or product video without typing a long URL. A QR code removes the friction entirely — viewers scan once and are watching in seconds.
Physical products. Packaging can include a QR code that opens an assembly or unboxing video. Because there is no redirect service involved, the link stays working as long as the YouTube video exists.
Business cards and menus. A restaurant can link to a video of dish preparation;
a consultant can link to a portfolio or introduction. The compact YouTube short-URL
format (youtu.be/…) keeps the encoded data short, which makes the QR module
size larger and therefore easier to scan.
Event sharing. Conference presenters often share slides after a talk. A QR code in the final slide pointing to a recorded version means audience members can re-watch without searching.
PNG vs SVG: which to download
The PNG download is a raster image best for digital use — slides, email, social media. Use a high-resolution setting if your QR code will be printed small, as raster images can look soft when scaled.
The SVG download is a vector that stays perfectly sharp at any size. Choose SVG for anything that will be printed — business cards, posters, packaging — where the code needs to scale up to a large format or print at very fine resolution.
Example
Paste https://youtu.be/dQw4w9WgXcQ?t=42&utm_source=newsletter. The tool keeps the
video ID and the 42-second start time but drops the utm_source tag, encoding
https://youtu.be/dQw4w9WgXcQ?t=42. Scanning the result opens the video at 0:42.
| Pasted input | Encoded result |
|---|---|
| 11-char video ID only | youtube.com/watch?v=… |
Link with ?t=90 | Timestamp preserved |
Link with utm_ tracking tags | Tracking tags removed |
| Playlist URL | Playlist parameter preserved |
The code is generated entirely in your browser — nothing is uploaded.