There are many applications for reading QR codes and best of all, it is almost certain that you already have one installed on your mobile phone. Its use usually involves opening the phone’s camera and point it at the QR code, but what if the code what you have already on your mobilein a screen shot or photo that you have sent?
The good news is that the majority of applications for QR codes can also open images to identify them, although the process is slightly different. We’ll see how you can do it without installing anythingwith the help of Google Lens.
1. Save the image
While the Wizard of Google is prepared to discuss what is on your screen, the command does not always appear and, if it is a QR code important (for example, a confirmation code of a bank operation), you want to make sure that you have a copy in the cell. The easiest way is, obviously, to make a screenshotalthough some applications allow you to also burn the image with the code directly in the mobile.
For example, the images that you sent by Telegram are not saved by default in the mobile, but you use the context menu to save them to the gallery. In WhatsApp itself is recorded, even though it may not show in the gallery, if so what you have configured. You will need to save the image first to be able to open it with Google Lens.
2. Open it with Google Lens
The next step is to open Google Lens. There are several ways to do it, as for example from the Wizard of Google. Another fairly simple it is from Google Photos. First, you need to find the picture or screenshot that you just saved (if you don’t see with the naked eye, looking in the tab Albums, in Photos on the device).
Now comes the easy part, open the photo in large and press the button Google Lens. In a moment, you will open the image recognition Google Lens, which generally will recognize the QR code automatically.
If for some reason Google Lens is opened on any of the rest of the modes (translation, shopping, food…), tap on the icon and choose the general option, of the magnifying glassthat is the one that recognizes QR codes. In photos where there are many elements that might confuse Google Lens, tap in the code to force its recognition.
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The news
How to scan a QR code in a photo or screenshot with an Android phone
it was originally published in
Xataka Android
by
Ivan Ramirez
.
