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wifitutorials

How to transfer a Wi-Fi password between phones in 10 seconds

iPhone shares Wi-Fi with iPhone natively. Android shares with Android. When the guest has the other OS, a QR Code solves it in seconds.

April 21, 20263 min readby PasteQRCode

You have a guest over, they ask for the Wi-Fi password, and you have to dictate C@sa2026#Forte!Senha$ letter by letter. Uppercase, symbols, double-checking. You can do better — and no install required.

What each OS offers natively

iPhone → iPhone (iOS 11+)

iOS automatically detects when a nearby iPhone tries to connect to your network. A "Share password?" popup appears on your phone. Confirm, done. Only works between Apple devices with each other saved in Contacts.

Android → Android (Android 10+)

On Android, open Wi-Fi settings, tap the connected network, tap the "Share" icon. A QR Code shows up. The other Android reads it with the camera or the Wi-Fi menu itself.

The gap: cross-platform

If you have iPhone and your guest has Android (or vice versa), neither of those native features works. That's when you end up dictating the password. And they type it wrong. And you dictate it again.

The universal solution: Wi-Fi QR Code

There's an official QR Code format for Wi-Fi networks that every modern camera recognizes — iPhone, Android, Pixel, Samsung, all of them. The format is:

WIFI:T:WPA;S:NetworkName;P:YourPassword;;

Where:

  • T:WPA — security type (WPA, WPA2, WEP, or nopass)
  • S:... — SSID (network name)
  • P:... — password

Paste that text into a QR Code generator and you're done. The visitor's camera recognizes it, suggests "Connect to network X?", and connects without typing anything.

Step by step

  1. Find the exact name of your network (copy it from the Wi-Fi screen to avoid typos).
  2. Open PasteQRCode or any generator that supports free text.
  3. Paste: 
    WIFI:T:WPA2;S:MyNetwork;P:MyPassword;;
  4. Generate the QR.
  5. Show the screen to the guest, OR print it and stick it on the wall (restaurants and cafés do this).

Ten seconds and they're online.

Useful variations

Open network (no password)

WIFI:T:nopass;S:OpenWifi;;

Hidden SSID network

WIFI:T:WPA;S:HiddenNetwork;P:pass123;H:true;;

The H:true tells the phone to search for the network even if it isn't broadcasting.

Special characters in the password

If your password contains ;, ,, :, or \, escape them with \:

Password: P@ssw;ord → P@ssw\;ord

For cafés, coworkings, and Airbnbs

If you host, printing a Wi-Fi QR Code looks professional and stops the repeated question. Tips:

  • Print it large (minimum 5cm × 5cm so cameras can read from 1m away)
  • Stick it somewhere well-lit
  • Put the network name underneath as text for anyone who prefers to type

FAQ

Do I need internet to generate? Only to load the generator page the first time. After that, generation is offline in the browser.

Does the password go to any server? In client-side generators like PasteQRCode, no. The QR is drawn in your own browser.

What if the guest can't read the QR? Very old cameras may struggle. Prefer the native system camera (iOS Camera, Google Pixel Camera) over third-party apps like Google Lens, which sometimes doesn't recognize the Wi-Fi format.

Summary

For cross-platform guests, a Wi-Fi QR Code solves in 10 seconds what manual dictation takes 2 minutes. The format has been standardized since 2010, works on basically any modern camera, and you don't need to install anything at all.

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