Can QR Codes be decoded by humans?
Dig a little deeper with us and find out whether it's possible for humans to read QR Codes by hand.
QR Codes weren’t made for humans to decipher. They are created using a machine language called binary code, which is like the mother tongue for all digital devices. Your phone, laptop and smartwatch all understand binary code instructions.
So, what if we told you that you can actually decode a QR Code yourself?
With a lot of patience and a solid grasp of binary code, you can do it. It would take a human at least 30 minutes to decode a simple message like 'hi', so it's not practical to do by hand every day, but it sure is a great conversation starter.
If you ever run out of electricity and your devices no longer work, at least you know it's possible to manually read a QR Code.
How to understand binary code
The whole language is made up of only two numbers: 0 and 1. Each digit is called a bit, and combinations of these bits represent data which could be letters, numbers, symbols and even images.
What happens when computers read binary is that they detect electricity. 1 Means "on" (electricity is flowing) and 0 means "off" (no electricity). So, to your computer, a binary message is like a bunch of tiny lights switching on and off in a certain pattern, and your computer knows what the pattern means.
Here's an example:
The letter A in binary is written as: 01000001.
From there, this pattern of numbers is assigned another number - think of it as a short code - and for A, it's number 65. So, when your computer sees 01000001, it knows that's an A.
Want to see what your name looks like in binary code? Use a binary code translator to convert text to code.
Now for the fun part:
How to Decode a QR Code by Hand
Understand the structure
QR Codes aren’t random squares. They have:
Three square 'finder' patterns (the big boxes in the corners)
Timing lines to help with alignment
And a zig-zag data area where information is stored
2. Look for the mode indicator
There are 4 main QR Code modes: numeric (numbers only), alphanumeric (letters, numbers and symbols), byte (emojis or text) or Kanji (Japanese characters). The first 4 bits tell you how the message is encoded. So, if it’s byte mode, the bits are: 0100.
3. Count the characters
The next 8 bits give you the character count. For example, 00000010 means 2 characters.
4. Decode the message
Each character is stored in 8-bit binary, so if you have:
01001000 → that’s “H”
01001001 → that’s “I”
Put it together, and your QR Code says “Hi."
That's it. You've now decoded a QR Code. It's not simple but it can be fun for those who enjoy puzzles.