The five WeChat QR codes
| Code | What it does | Can you create it? | Lifespan |
|---|---|---|---|
| Personal | Adds you as a contact | WeChat generates it | Until you reset it |
| Group invite | Joins a group chat | WeChat generates it | Short — days, not months |
| Official Account | Follows a business account | Yes, in the admin console | Permanent or temporary |
| WeChat Pay | Sends or receives money | Yes, in the app or by merchant setup | Varies by type |
| Login | Authorises a web or desktop session | No — nobody can | Seconds |
Anyone asking for the QR code of WeChat usually means one of the first two, and mixing them up is the source of nearly every "my WeChat QR code stopped working" problem, because three of the five are designed to stop working.
The ones WeChat makes for you
Your personal code is the QR code in WeChat that most people mean, and it sits in Me > QR Code. It adds you as a contact. You can reset it, which invalidates every copy already out there — useful after handing it to a stranger, disastrous on something printed.
A group invite code is the one people get caught by. It is deliberately short-lived: WeChat expires group QR codes after a few days, and a group past a certain size stops accepting new members by QR at all and requires an invite from a member instead. Printing a group code on a flyer or an event banner is a plan with a deadline built in, and the deadline arrives before most print runs are even distributed.
The login code on the WeChat web or desktop client is not something you create. It is issued for one session, expires in seconds, and only your own logged-in phone can authorise it. If you searched for how to generate a WeChat login QR code, the answer is that no tool can — it is scanned, never made.
The ones you can create
Official Account codes. If you run a WeChat Official Account, the admin console generates the code that makes people follow it. This is the one that belongs on shop windows, packaging and printed campaigns, because the account belongs to the business rather than to a person and the code does not rotate under you. The console offers permanent codes and temporary ones — take the permanent kind for anything printed, and reserve temporary codes for time-boxed campaigns where expiry is the point.
Mini Program codes. WeChat Mini Programs have their own codes, including the round "Mini Program Code" that does not look like a QR code at all. Both are generated from the Mini Program admin side.
WeChat Pay codes. Personal receive-money codes come from the app. Merchant codes come from a WeChat Pay merchant account and go through a verification process.
The limitation nobody mentions until it bites
The QR code of WeChat Pay does not contain a web address. It encodes WeChat's own wxp:// scheme, which means a normal phone camera cannot open it — not on iPhone, not on Android, not with any third-party scanner. Anyone who wants to scan WeChat QR codes for payment has to do it from inside the app, because the WeChat QR code scanner behind the + button is the only reader that resolves the scheme. That is by design, and it is not a bug you can work around.
This matters the moment you are designing for a mixed audience. A QR code on WeChat assumes an audience that already has the app open, so a poster carrying nothing but a WeChat Pay code is invisible to everyone else. If the audience is not exclusively WeChat users, the printed square has to be a normal URL code that works from any camera, with WeChat as one destination among several on the page it opens.
Reaching WeChat users from printed material
The pattern that works is not "print the WeChat code". It is: print one universal code, and let the page behind it route people.
- Encode a normal https link in a dynamic QR code, so any camera on any phone opens it.
- Land on a page carrying your Official Account, your Mini Program, your WeChat ID and whatever else the audience needs — a social links page does exactly this.
- Keep the printed square unchanged. Official Account changes, campaign changes, a new Mini Program — all of it happens on the page, and nothing is reprinted.
- Count the scans. WeChat's own codes report nothing back to you; a dynamic code reports how many people scanned, when and from where. See QR code tracking.
This also solves the expiry problem for group chats. Point the printed code at a page, and put the current group invite on that page — when the group code expires, you swap it out in thirty seconds instead of reprinting anything.
Before you print
The usual print rules apply: at least about 2 cm for close scanning and larger at distance, dark modules on a light background, four modules of clear margin, and vector artwork rather than a stretched screenshot. The size guide has the numbers by placement, and SVG and EPS covers the file to hand a printer.
One test matters more than the rest: scan the printed code with the ordinary camera app, not from inside WeChat. That is what most people will do, and it is the check that catches a code nobody outside the WeChat ecosystem can reach.
How to reach WeChat users with one printed code
Decide what the code must survive
If the destination might change — the Official Account, a campaign, a group invite that expires — the printed code has to be dynamic. Only a code that never changes destination can safely be static.
Build a landing page for your WeChat presence
Put the Official Account code, the Mini Program, the WeChat ID and any other channel on one page, so a single printed square reaches all of them.
Encode the page URL, not the WeChat code
Paste the https link into the generator above. A URL code opens from any phone camera, while a WeChat Pay code only resolves inside WeChat.
Style it and export vector
Add your colours and logo, keep the code darker than its background, and download SVG for print or PNG for screens.
Test with a normal camera, then print
Scan the proof with the standard camera app on an iPhone and an Android — not from inside WeChat — and confirm it opens before releasing the run.
Frequently asked
How do I find the QR code of WeChat on my own profile?
Open Me and tap the QR code icon beside your name. That is your personal QR code in WeChat, and it adds you as a contact. You can reset it from the same screen, which immediately invalidates every copy you have already shared.
Can I create a WeChat login QR code?
No, and no tool can. The login code shown by the WeChat web or desktop client is issued for a single session, expires within seconds, and can only be authorised by your own logged-in phone. It exists to be scanned, never to be generated or printed.
Why won't my phone camera read a WeChat payment QR code?
Because it does not contain a web address. WeChat Pay codes encode WeChat's own wxp:// scheme, which only WeChat can resolve — no iPhone camera, Android camera or third-party scanner will open one. If your audience is not exclusively WeChat users, print a normal URL code instead.
Why did my WeChat group QR code stop working?
Group invite codes are deliberately short-lived — WeChat expires them after a few days — and a group past a certain size stops accepting new members by QR at all. That makes a printed group code a poor idea. Print a code pointing at a page instead, and keep the current group invite on that page.
Which WeChat QR code should go on printed material?
For a business, the Official Account code, because it belongs to the account rather than a person and does not rotate. Better still, print a dynamic URL code pointing at a page that carries the Official Account, the Mini Program and anything else — then a change never means a reprint.
Can I track how many people scan my WeChat QR code?
Not with the codes WeChat generates: a QR code on WeChat routes through nothing you control and reports nothing back. Encode your own link in a dynamic QR code and you get scan counts by time, city and device, plus the ability to repoint the same printed square later.
Need a different QR type? Browse all 48 QR types on the home page.