Read a barcode from a picture
Get the number off a barcode in a photograph or a screenshot — and have it checked, so you know the digits are right before you type them into anything.
- Processed on your device
- No upload, no waiting
- No signup, no watermark
How it works
Add the picture
A photo of the label or packaging, a screenshot, a scan. Several barcodes in one picture are all read.
Read the number
The digits, the format it was printed in, and whether the check digit adds up.
Copy it
Take the number away — it is already verified, which is more than retyping it off the label gives you.
Frequently asked questions
Which barcode formats can it read?
The retail ones — EAN-13, EAN-8, UPC-A, UPC-E and ISBN — and the industrial and logistics ones: Code 128, Code 39, Code 93, Codabar, ITF and ITF-14, and the GS1 DataBar family. Square codes like QR and Data Matrix have their own page.
What does "check digit" mean?
The last digit of a product barcode is calculated from the others, so a single misread digit makes the number fail its own arithmetic. That check is run here and the answer shown. It is the difference between a number you can trust and a number that merely looks right — and it is the reason reading a barcode beats copying it off the label by eye.
Does the number tell me where the product was made?
No, and this is worth being clear about because almost everyone believes otherwise. The first three digits identify the GS1 organisation that ISSUED the number, which is normally where the company registered — not where the goods were manufactured. A British company selling something made in Vietnam has a 50x number. The country is shown with that caveat attached rather than left to be misread.
Is my picture uploaded?
No. The picture is decoded in your browser and never sent anywhere — which matters more here than almost anywhere else on this site, because a code can hold a Wi-Fi password, a payment request or a two-factor secret.
Can it look up the product?
No. This reads the number off the picture and stops there — looking it up would mean sending it to somebody else's service, which is exactly what this site does not do. The number is yours to paste wherever you like.
It could not read my barcode.
Striped barcodes are fussier than QR codes: they carry no error correction, so a glare across the bars or a crease through them loses the number outright. Photograph it square on, filling the frame, with the light off to one side rather than straight on. A barcode on a curved bottle often needs to be photographed from straight above the flattest part.
Does it read the barcode on a boarding pass or a licence?
Those are usually PDF417 or Aztec, which are square-format codes — the QR code page reads them.
Good to know: Striped barcodes carry no error correction, so anything that obscures part of the bars — glare, a crease, a curve, a torn label — means no read rather than a partial one. No product database is consulted: you get the number and its check, not the name of the thing.