India runs on QR codes: payments taught every customer to point a camera at a square. WhatsApp has two QR codes of its own, doing opposite jobs, and confusing them is how accounts get stolen. The login QR signs a computer in to YOUR account. The contact QR lets a customer start a chat WITH you in one scan.
This guide explains both, shows how to put a scan-to-chat code at the counter, on packaging and on the van, covers the linked-devices system behind the login QR, and closes with the security rules that keep a scanned square from becoming a hijacked business number.
Two QR codes, opposite jobs
The rule of thumb: you scan a login QR yourself, on a screen you opened yourself. You hand a contact QR to customers. The moment anyone asks YOU to scan a code "to verify your account" or "to claim cashback", stop: scanning the wrong login QR hands over the account, and this exact scam circulates widely on Indian numbers.
- Login QR: shown by WhatsApp Web or the desktop app. Scanning it FROM YOUR PHONE links that computer to your account as a companion device. It grants access; treat it like a key.
- Contact QR: generated in your app settings. Anyone scanning it gets your number and a ready chat with you. It shares your identity; treat it like a visiting card.
Linking a device with the login QR
- 1
Open the target device
Go to web.whatsapp.com or open the desktop app. A QR appears.
- 2
Open Linked devices on the phone
WhatsApp or WhatsApp Business: three-dot menu or Settings, Linked devices, Link a device.
- 3
Scan the on-screen code
Chats load in seconds, and the device keeps working when the phone is offline, thanks to multi-device.
- 4
Know the limits
Four companion devices per account. A companion unlinks after around 14 days without the phone coming online; logging out of the phone unlinks everything.
Your contact QR: from settings to the shop counter
A customer scanning your contact QR does not need your number saved, and you do not need theirs: the scan opens the chat directly. Every conversation started this way also unlocks clickable links from you, and once the customer saves your number, broadcast delivery too.
- 1
Open your QR
WhatsApp: Settings, QR icon beside your name. WhatsApp Business: Settings, Business tools, QR code.
- 2
Share or print it
Export the code as an image: billing counter, product packaging, delivery van, visiting card, hoarding, website, email signature.
- 3
Pre-fill the first message (Business)
The Business app lets the QR carry a default message, so scans arrive as "Hi, I saw your offer" instead of an empty chat.
- 4
Reset if it leaks
The QR menu has Reset: every printed copy stops working and a new code takes over. Existing chats are untouched.
Related: How to send links on WhatsApp · WhatsApp broadcasts that actually reach Indian customers
Rolling your own QR from a wa.me link
The second route is building the QR yourself from a click-to-chat link. Construct https://wa.me/919876543210?text=YourEncodedMessage (91 plus the 10-digit number, no plus sign or spaces), feed it to any QR generator, and control the pre-filled text per placement: one message for the counter, another for the invoice, a third for the exhibition stall.
Because each placement carries its own pre-filled text, the customer’s first message tells you where they found you: free attribution with zero tracking scripts.
QR security rules that matter
- Never scan a login QR sent to you or displayed anywhere except web.whatsapp.com or the official desktop app you opened. Scanning an attacker’s login QR links YOUR account to THEIR computer.
- Review Settings, Linked devices whenever in doubt; log out sessions you do not recognise.
- Keep two-step verification on, so a SIM swap or an intercepted code cannot quietly re-register the number.
- Your contact QR is safe to publish by definition; the worst anyone can do with it is message you. Reset it to invalidate old prints.
The QR as business infrastructure
Indian customers already treat scanning as the way in; payments made sure of that. A WhatsApp QR at the register, on the menu, on the parcel or on the site turns a physical encounter into a conversation with zero typing, and a conversation, unlike footfall, has history, context and follow-up.
The same linked-devices mechanism behind the login QR is how modern team tools connect. Spun links to your existing business number with one QR scan, exactly like WhatsApp Web, then gives the whole team their own logins to a shared inbox: assignment, labels, full history, AI drafting and summaries, transcribed voice notes and scheduled follow-ups, with no Business API application and no per-message fees.