Location QR Code: Fixed Spot or a Moving One

A location QR code is a normal QR code that holds a map link. Scan it and the phone opens the map at your spot. The code is the easy part, the link is the work. If your spot moves, a dynamic QR code can send people somewhere different each day.

Pick the right link first

Ask what the person scanning needs to do when the map opens.

• Find a business. Link to the place itself. The map shows your listing with its name, hours and reviews, and a Directions button.
• Find a spot with no listing. A park gate, a stall in a market, the side entrance of a venue. Link to the exact coordinates.
• Get there. Link straight to directions. The phone starts the route from wherever they're standing.

Three ways to get the link

Copy it from Google Maps

Google's help page "Share a map or directions" (checked again on 28 October 2026) gives the steps for a computer and for the app.

On a computer: open Google Maps, go to the place, click Menu, then Share or embed map, Send a link, Copy link.

In the Google Maps app: search for the place or drop a pin. Tap the place's name or address at the bottom, tap Share, then choose where to send it. Copy the link from there. The steps are the same on Android and iPhone.

Illustration, not a screenshot. Steps from Google's Maps help.

Look at the link you copied. If it is a short one starting maps.app.goo.gl, it works in any free QR generator, but not in QRZY's dynamic QR codes. See below.

Build it yourself with Google's URL format

Google publishes a link format for exactly this case, in its Maps URLs documentation. It's long, but every part of it is readable:

https://www.google.com/maps/search/?api=1&query=Your+Business+Name+Your+Street+Your+City

Put a place name, an address or coordinates after query=, with + instead of spaces. For directions, swap search for dir and query for destination:

https://www.google.com/maps/dir/?api=1&destination=LATITUDE,LONGITUDE

Replace LATITUDE,LONGITUDE with the coordinates of your spot (how to get them is below).

What happens on scan, per the same documentation: on Android and on iPhone, the link opens in the Google Maps app if it's installed. If it isn't, Google Maps opens in the browser. On a computer it opens in the browser.

Get coordinates for a spot with no address

Per Google's help page "Find or enter latitude & longitude": on a computer, right-click the spot on the map. The coordinates appear at the top of the pop-up, in decimal format. Click them to copy. Paste them after query= or destination= above.

Turn the link into a code

If the place never moves, a static code is all you need. Paste the link into our free QR code generator as a URL, download PNG or SVG, done. No account, and the code works for as long as the map link does. Our guide on making a QR code for a link has the details on size and testing.

Scan it with two different phones before you print. A map link with a typo still opens a map, just the wrong one. If a phone won't read the code at all, see why a QR code isn't scanning.

When the location moves

A food truck at the office park on Tuesday and the farmers market on Saturday. A pop-up that changes street every month. A festival that's in the park this year and the harbor next year. A code on the side of a truck stays there for years, and reprinting it for every stop isn't practical. A code you can change after printing fixes that.

A dynamic QR code holds a short QRZY link, and you decide in the dashboard where that link sends people, including by day of the week. The food truck page shows the idea in full.

Set up a code that follows you (with QRZY)

This works on the Free plan:

1. Sign up and select Create QR. Paste the link to your most common spot as the Default URL. That's where scans go when no rule matches.
2. Select Create QR Code, then open the code's edit page.
3. Under Smart rules, select Add Step. Set Condition Type to Day of Week, tick the days under Select Days, and check the Timezone field. It starts as your browser's timezone, and a day ends at midnight in the zone you pick, so set it to where the truck works.
4. Under What happens on scan, keep Redirect to URL and paste the map link for that day's spot.
5. Add a step for each other spot, then select Save.

Steps are checked top to bottom, and the first one that matches wins. Time of Day (Hours) works the same way if the truck moves at lunch, and Time Range (Between Dates) handles a one-off event.

What to know before you print:

• Use the long google.com/maps link. QRZY blocks known URL shorteners as destinations, and maps.app.goo.gl falls under goo.gl. The long format above works.
• The Free plan shows a 5-second countdown before a scan reaches the map (Google Maps refuses to load inside QRZY's alternative bar, so Free always gets the countdown), and allows up to 5 steps. Paid plans start at $100 a year and redirect instantly. Prices are on the pricing page, and you can scan a live demo to see the countdown before you decide.
• QRZY can't see where you are. It sends people to the spot you set for that day. If plans change at short notice, update the step in the dashboard before people start scanning.

For a code that lives on a vehicle, QR codes on vehicles covers size and placement. The dynamic QR codes page explains what else you can change after printing.

Common questions

Can I make a QR code for my current location? Yes. Get the coordinates of the spot and build a link with them. The code points to that spot, not to wherever you go next.

Will it open Apple Maps on an iPhone? A Google Maps link opens Google Maps: the app if it's installed, otherwise Google Maps in the browser. Apple Maps has its own links, but this guide doesn't cover them.

Does a location QR code track the person scanning? The code itself holds only a link. A QRZY dynamic QR code records each scan: the time, the country and city from the network, and the device and browser. It never asks the phone for its GPS position.