Barcode Scanner

Q: Which barcode types can it read?

EAN-13, EAN-8, UPC-A, Code 128, Code 39 and ITF are handled by the built-in decoder, which works in every browser. Where your browser provides the native BarcodeDetector — Chrome, Edge and Android — that is used instead and additionally covers Code 93, UPC-E and Codabar. The tool tells you which decoder produced the result.

Q: Why will my barcode not scan?

Usually resolution or angle. The decoder reads along a horizontal line of pixels, so each narrow bar needs to be at least a pixel or two wide — a barcode occupying a small part of a large photo often has bars thinner than that. Fill the frame with the code, hold the camera square rather than tilted, avoid glare on glossy packaging, and include the blank margins either side. If a photo fails, the tool automatically retries at double size before giving up.

Q: What is the check digit and why does it matter?

It is a digit computed from all the others, and every EAN, UPC and ITF-14 number carries one. The decoder recalculates it from what it read and compares — if they disagree the read is rejected rather than reported, because a misread barcode that silently returns a wrong-but-plausible number is far worse than one that fails. When the analysis says the check digit is correct, the number was read reliably.

Q: Can it tell me what the product is?

No. A barcode encodes an identifier, not a description — the product name lives in a retailer's or GS1's database, not in the symbol. What this tool can tell you is what the number's structure means: whether it is a valid registered format, whether the 978 prefix makes it an ISBN, or whether it starts with 20–29 and is therefore an in-store number that only means something inside one shop. The lookup button runs an ordinary web search on the number.

Q: Does it work upside-down?

Yes. Code 128 and Code 39 are symmetrical enough that reversing the reading direction is enough, and EAN-13 is handled explicitly — it is a directional symbology whose left and right halves use different pattern sets, so the decoder carries mirrored copies of those tables and unmirrors the result. In practice you can hold a product at whatever rotation is comfortable.

Q: Is anything uploaded?

No. Camera frames are drawn to a canvas and decoded in the page, and a chosen image never leaves your device. There is no server involved in reading a code, nothing is stored, and the camera is stopped as soon as a barcode is found rather than left running. You can confirm this by scanning with your network connection turned off.

Read EAN, UPC, Code 128, Code 39 and ITF barcodes with your camera or from an image.

Reads EAN-13, EAN-8, UPC-A, Code 128, Code 39 and ITF. You can also drag an image here or paste a screenshot with Ctrl+V. Nothing is uploaded.

Already have the number?

Verifies the check digit and explains the prefix, without needing the barcode image.

What It Does

This tool reads a linear barcode from your camera, an image file, a dragged photo or a pasted screenshot, and then explains the number it found. That second part is the useful bit: a barcode number is not arbitrary. Its check digit proves the read was reliable, and its opening digits say whether it is a globally registered product number, a book, a periodical, or an in-store code that means nothing outside the shop that printed it. Everything is decoded in your browser and nothing is uploaded.

When to Use It

You are taking stock and want to read a code off a carton without a handheld scanner.
You have a photo of a product and want the number to look it up or paste into a spreadsheet.
You printed labels and want to confirm they actually scan and carry the value you intended.
You received a barcode image from a supplier and need to know which symbology it is and what it encodes.

Worked Examples

A valid EAN-13

A real published product number. The check digit validates, which is what tells you a read was reliable rather than a plausible-looking misread.

The same number with one digit wrong

Changing only the final digit breaks the checksum, and the analysis says so along with what the correct digit would be. This is exactly the protection that stops a smudged bar becoming a wrong product.

An ISBN as an EAN-13

The 978 prefix means this is a book. ISBNs are carried in the EAN-13 format rather than being a separate symbology, which is why the barcode on a book looks like any other product code.

An in-store number

Prefixes 20 to 29 are reserved for shops to number their own items — loose goods, in-house packing. Valid, but not globally unique, so it means nothing outside the shop that printed it.

Common Mistakes

Photographing the barcode at an angle. Bar widths are what carry the data, and perspective distorts them — the far end of a tilted symbol has narrower bars than the near end. Hold the camera square to the label.
Filling only a small part of the frame. A linear barcode is read along a horizontal line, so what matters is how many pixels each narrow bar gets. Fill the width of the frame rather than centring a small code in a large photo.
Cropping out the quiet zones. The blank margins either side are part of the symbol, and a crop that starts at the first bar removes the decoder's reference for where the code begins.
Trusting a read with a failed check digit. If the analysis reports a check digit mismatch, the number was misread — do not use it. That check exists precisely so a smudged bar becomes a refusal rather than a wrong product.
Assuming a scanned number is a product database lookup. This tool decodes the symbol; it does not know what the product is. The number is the identifier a retailer's own system would resolve.

Features

EAN-13

EAN-8

UPC-A

Code 128

Code 39 and ITF

Camera scanning with rear-camera preference and multi-camera picker

Image file

drag-and-drop and clipboard paste

Reads barcodes photographed upside-down

Check digit verification on every read

GS1 prefix explanation — ISBN

ISSN and in-store ranges

Uses the browser's native detector where available

Built-in scan-line decoder as a fallback for Firefox and Safari

Camera stops the moment a code is read

Nothing uploaded — decoding runs in your browser

How to Use

1. Click 'Scan with camera' and allow camera access, or choose an image file. 2. Hold the barcode flat and square to the lens, filling the width of the aiming frame. 3. The camera stops automatically once a code is read. 4. Check the analysis — particularly that the check digit is reported as correct. 5. Copy the number, or use the lookup button for retail codes.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which barcode types can it read?

Why will my barcode not scan?

What is the check digit and why does it matter?

Can it tell me what the product is?

Does it work upside-down?

Is anything uploaded?

Related Tools

Barcode Generator QR Code Generator

Everything runs in your browser. Camera frames and chosen images are decoded in the page and never uploaded, nothing is stored, and the camera is switched off as soon as a barcode is read. Camera access requires a secure (HTTPS) connection — on an insecure page the image-file option still works. Where your browser provides BarcodeDetector it is used, since it is hardware-backed and covers more symbologies; otherwise a built-in scan-line decoder handles EAN, UPC, Code 128, Code 39 and ITF. This tool identifies the number encoded in a symbol; it does not look up product information.