Does an event QR code update if the date changes?

No. A static code carries a fixed calendar entry, and anyone who already scanned it keeps the old date with no way for you to correct it. If the date might move, point a dynamic code at an event page instead and change the page.

How are timezones handled?

Times are encoded in UTC, so every phone converts to its own local time correctly. A 7pm event reads as 7pm locally for someone in that city and at the right converted hour for someone travelling.

Why is my location cut off after the comma?

iCalendar treats commas, semicolons and backslashes as structural, so they need escaping or everything after them is dropped. This generator escapes the fields for you, so an ordinary address with commas comes through intact.

Can I track how many people added the event?

Not with a static calendar code — the entry is saved locally on each phone and nothing reports back. A dynamic code pointing at an event page gives you scan counts, and the page can carry the add-to-calendar button.

Do both iPhone and Android support event codes?

Yes. Both recognise an iCalendar payload from the built-in camera and offer to add it to the default calendar app. The phone always asks first rather than writing to a calendar silently.

Event QR code generator

An event code carries a calendar entry, so scanning it offers to save your event with its title, location and times already filled in. It removes the gap between somebody seeing a poster and actually having the date.

The payload is an iCalendar VEVENT — the same format calendar apps exchange — encoded into the symbol, so it works with no server and no account.

What should it do

Add an event to the calendar.

Content

Event name (required)

Starts (required)

Ends (required)

All day

Location

Details

Design

Module shape

Eye frame

Eye centre

Error correction

Code colour

#111111

Background

#ffffff

Logo in the middle

Times, timezones and the all-day case

Timestamps are written in the compact iCalendar form, and this generator emits them in UTC with a trailing Z. That is the unambiguous choice: a phone in any timezone converts to local time correctly, so a 7pm London event does not show as 7pm to somebody arriving from New York.

An all-day event is different in kind, not just in duration. It uses a date with no time at all, and the end date is exclusive — a single-day event on the 14th ends on the 15th. Getting that wrong produces an entry that either spans two days or vanishes, which is why the all-day toggle here handles it rather than asking you to.

Escaping, and why your location line breaks

iCalendar folds on commas, semicolons and backslashes, so a location like "Mill Lane, Bristol" needs the comma escaped or everything after it is discarded. Newlines in a description become a literal backslash-n.

This is the usual reason a hand-written event code imports with a truncated address. The fields below are escaped for you, so a normal postal address with commas in it survives the trip into somebody's calendar.

What a calendar code cannot do

It saves an entry on one phone. It cannot invite anybody, track RSVPs, update itself when the date moves, or tell you how many people added it. There is no organiser relationship — the entry belongs to whoever scanned it.

So if the date might change, do not encode it statically. Point a dynamic code at an event landing page holding the details and an add-to-calendar button: the printed poster stays valid, the details can be corrected, and you find out how many people looked.

Posters, tickets and where to put it

On a poster, put it low enough to scan comfortably — a code at head height on a wall is awkward to photograph — and print it at 3cm or more for an arm's-length scan, larger for anything read across a room.

Label it. "Scan to add to your calendar" converts far better than a bare code, because people are deciding in a second whether pointing a camera at it is worth the risk of it being something else.

Common questions

Does an event QR code update if the date changes?: No. A static code carries a fixed calendar entry, and anyone who already scanned it keeps the old date with no way for you to correct it. If the date might move, point a dynamic code at an event page instead and change the page.
How are timezones handled?: Times are encoded in UTC, so every phone converts to its own local time correctly. A 7pm event reads as 7pm locally for someone in that city and at the right converted hour for someone travelling.
Why is my location cut off after the comma?: iCalendar treats commas, semicolons and backslashes as structural, so they need escaping or everything after them is dropped. This generator escapes the fields for you, so an ordinary address with commas comes through intact.
Can I track how many people added the event?: Not with a static calendar code — the entry is saved locally on each phone and nothing reports back. A dynamic code pointing at an event page gives you scan counts, and the page can carry the add-to-calendar button.
Do both iPhone and Android support event codes?: Yes. Both recognise an iCalendar payload from the built-in camera and offer to add it to the default calendar app. The phone always asks first rather than writing to a calendar silently.