How to make a QR code in Google Slides

1. Insert by URL — the one-step route

Google Slides inserts images straight from a URL, and the keyless UseQR API turns any payload into a PNG at whatever size you ask:

1. Build the URL:

https://useqr.app/api/v1/qr?data=https://example.com/your-page&size=1000

Ask for size=1000 or more — projection magnifies everything, including soft edges from undersized images. Special characters in the payload need URL-encoding; if in doubt, build the code in the generator and copy its API link. 2. In Slides: Insert → Image → By URL, paste, confirm.

Slides fetches the image once and stores its own copy in the presentation, so the deck keeps working offline and forever after — same behaviour as Google Docs. For a styled code (logo, colours), download a large PNG from the generator and use Insert → Image → Upload from computer instead; Slides does not accept SVG.

2. Size for the farthest phone

Slide real estate is not the constraint — the room is. A code must display at roughly one tenth of the distance to the farthest person scanning it:

• Meeting room, viewers at 3 m: ≥ 30 cm as displayed on the screen.
• Seminar room at 6 m: ≥ 60 cm.
• Hall at 10 m: ≥ 1 m — which usually means the back rows simply cannot scan a slide, however large you make it.

Work out what a quarter- or half-slide code measures on your screen: on a 165 cm (65") TV the full slide width is about 144 cm, so a half-width code shows at ~70 cm — good to roughly 7 m. The maths for screens lives in QR size on a TV screen. For big venues, pair the code with a readable short URL.

3. Give it time and a plain stage

• 15–20 seconds minimum on screen, announced out loud — the reasoning is in minimum on-screen duration.
• One code per slide, on a plain light background. Projectors compress contrast, so near-black modules on a white panel beat anything decorative; theme colours behind the code are where slides go wrong — see colours that scan.
• Keep the code's white margin — its quiet zone — clear of text boxes and theme graphics.
• Repeat the code on the closing slide and leave it up during questions.

4. Resize without distortion

Drag corner handles only. Slides happily stretches images from side handles, and a code that is 5% wider than tall is a coin-flip on dense payloads. If you must fit a layout, resize the surrounding elements, never the code's aspect.

5. Test from the back of the room

Before the session, present the actual deck on the actual screen and scan from the farthest seat you care about. Phones scan screens without issue — scanning off a monitor — so any failure in the room is size, glare or dwell time. You can also sanity-check the inserted image by running the API URL through the validator.

Gotchas

• The URL must return a raw image — the API link above does; a link to a generator page does not insert.
• "Present on another screen" scaling: mirrored projection sometimes letterboxes slides, shrinking the code below the size you measured. Check the real projected image.
• Published-to-web decks re-serve stored images — fine — but embedded decks on websites shrink dramatically; a code sized for a hall becomes thumbnail-sized in an iframe.

Build the code and copy its API link: make a QR code.

FAQ

How do I put a QR code in Google Slides?

Use Insert → Image → By URL with a QR API link such as https://useqr.app/api/v1/qr?data=your-link&size=1000. The code appears on the slide immediately, and Slides stores its own copy.

How big should the code be for a projected presentation?

Displayed width of at least one tenth of the distance to the farthest scanner — 30 cm for 3 m, 60 cm for 6 m. In large halls, also give a short URL for people out of range.

Does the code keep working if I present offline?

Yes. Slides saved its own copy of the image at insert time, and a static QR code carries its destination inside itself, so nothing needs to be online except the scanner's phone afterwards.

Why won't my QR code scan from the projector screen?

Check size first (a tenth of viewing distance), then glare and contrast — projectors wash out colour, so use near-black modules on a white panel and keep the code slide free of animation.