QR Code Contact Details: A Practical Guide

A QR code can hold contact details directly as a vCard, letting a compatible reader turn names, phone numbers, and other fields into a contact you can review and save. It can also hold a link to a contact page. Check whether the scan produces a contact preview, a web address, or plain text.

Is the contact inside the QR code or behind a link?

A vCard QR code contains the contact record itself. In Digital Business Card: NFC QR, the QR shown on the Share tab carries vCard 3.0 data directly; it does not send you to the app’s card page first. The separate Send card link option opens a web page. This distinction matters when checking a QR: a website opening does not mean a contact has been saved, and a phone number displayed as plain text is not necessarily a complete contact record. Ask for the contact file if the scan does not offer a usable contact preview.

How to read the contact fields

The IETF’s vCard specifications define labels that tell a contacts app what each value means. A record begins with BEGIN:VCARD, identifies its format with VERSION, and ends with END:VCARD. The table explains the labels you are most likely to encounter. You do not need to edit these labels yourself. If a reader shows the raw record, use them to check whether the expected information is present. For example, TEL;TYPE=CELL identifies a mobile number, while ORG and TITLE separate the company from the person’s job.

Which details the app shares

The app supports a name, job title, company, phone number, email, website, and social fields for Instagram, LinkedIn, X, and WhatsApp. Social entries become website links in the vCard. Second Phone, Address, Second Website, and Note are Pro fields. Those four fields are omitted from sharing when Pro is inactive, even if their values remain stored on the card. There is no separate switch for hiding individual filled fields from an outgoing QR. Review the card details before sharing.

Check names, number labels, and addresses

The app takes the last word in Full Name as the family name and puts the preceding words in the given-name field. If you have a multiword surname or use a different name order, inspect the saved contact’s name fields. The main Phone field is labeled mobile in the vCard; Second Phone is labeled work. Address is a single input exported in the street-address component of a work address, rather than split into city, state, postal code, and country fields. Check the imported address before relying on it for mailing or navigation.

Review the saved contact, not just the scan

After scanning, review the contact preview and complete the available save or import action. Then reopen the entry in Contacts and check the number, email, company, and links. If scanning does not produce a usable contact, request Send contact file from the app. Apple’s iPhone User Guide describes importing a vCard from a .vcf attachment in an email or message; Google Contacts Help also documents importing VCF files on Android. These are fallback routes, not a promise that every camera presents the same buttons. Check for an existing entry before keeping another copy.

Keep the record short enough to scan

DENSO WAVE explains that QR capacity depends on the data, character type, and error correction level; more data requires more modules. There is no useful universal contact-field count that guarantees a readable QR. Start with a name and the contact methods the recipient needs, then add only useful extras. The app displays a warning when the record is too large to generate a QR and suggests shortening the note or address. If its enlarged QR appears cropped in landscape, return to portrait so the entire square is visible.

Understand what happens when details change

A QR image already saved or printed by the app contains the details used to generate it. Editing your card changes subsequent QR output; it cannot rewrite an earlier image or a contact someone already imported. Share the updated record and ask the recipient to check or replace the old entry. The app’s card links also carry the details from when they were created, so an old link is not a live directory entry that follows later edits. Do not assume that choosing a link makes the contact automatically update.

Find the cause of missing or incorrect details

If a saved entry is wrong, compare the original card, the scan preview, and the imported contact. The app can save an incorrectly formatted email before showing its warning, so correct the field and save again rather than assuming the warning rejected it. For missing Pro fields, check that Pro is active. For a long note that arrived through a card link, the app’s card page limits each text field to 500 characters. Use the direct contact file when preserving that text matters, and verify the imported result. Keep essential contact information in its own field, not buried in a note.

Choose information you are comfortable sharing

Use a work number and business email when those are the details you want others to keep. Leave out a home address, private notes, or unrelated personal profiles. Treat a shared QR image as a copy of the details it contains, and avoid posting it publicly unless that is your intention. When receiving a card, do not open links from someone you do not trust. The Federal Trade Commission advises checking a QR’s destination before opening it and avoiding unexpected QR codes in messages. A recognizable contact name alone is not a reason to trust an attached link.