How to make QR codes and barcodes in Excel and Google Sheets

Bulk QR codes from an Excel or Google Sheets column

If you have a list of links, product IDs, ticket numbers or names in a spreadsheet, you do not need a formula or a macro. Export the column as a CSV and let a bulk QR code generator make one image per row. NeoReader's bulk generator runs in your browser, applies the same colours and logo to every code, and gives you a ZIP of PNG files named after each row.

1. Put the content for each code in one column, one value per row. Add a second column with a file name if you want each image named, such as a SKU or a guest name.
2. In Excel, choose File, Save a Copy (or Save As), and pick CSV UTF-8 (Comma delimited). In Google Sheets, choose File, Download, Comma-separated values (.csv).
3. Open the bulk QR code generator and upload the CSV, or paste the column straight in.
4. Pick a style, colours and an optional logo. The same design is used for every code.
5. Download the ZIP. Each PNG is named after its row, so you can match codes to records.
6. Scan two or three codes with your phone before you print the whole batch.

Put the QR code images back into the spreadsheet

Once you have the images, you can place them next to the data. In Microsoft 365 Excel, Insert, Pictures, Place in Cell puts an image inside a cell so it sorts and filters with its row. In Google Sheets, Insert, Image, Image in cell does the same.

For printed labels and letters, Word mail merge is often the better route. Word's DISPLAYBARCODE field can draw a plain QR code or barcode from a merge field, so each label gets its own code from your Excel sheet. Our guide to adding a QR code to Word covers the field in detail.

The Google Sheets IMAGE formula, and why to be careful

Many tutorials for a Google Sheets QR code generator use a formula like =IMAGE("https://<qr-service>/?data=" & ENCODEURL(A2)). The IMAGE function asks an outside QR image service to draw the code, and ENCODEURL makes the cell value safe to put in a web address. Microsoft 365 Excel has an IMAGE function too, so the same idea works there.

It works, but every value in that column is sent to someone else's server each time the sheet recalculates. That is fine for public web links. It is not fine for guest lists, customer IDs, Wi-Fi passwords or anything private. The service can also change, rate-limit you or shut down, and every image in the sheet breaks at once. Some older tutorials point at Google's Image Charts address, which Google deprecated long ago. For anything you care about, make the images once and keep the files.

How to create a barcode in Excel or Google Sheets

Barcodes are easier than QR codes inside a sheet, because some barcode types can be drawn with a font. The easiest is Code 39. In Google Sheets, open the font menu, choose More fonts and add Libre Barcode 39. In Excel, install the same free font from Google Fonts on your computer first.

Code 39 needs an asterisk at each end, so put the formula ="*"&A2&"*" in a new column and set that column to the barcode font. Code 39 only holds capital letters, digits and a few symbols, and it is wide, so keep the values short.

Code 128 and EAN-13 barcode fonts exist, but typing the number is not enough: each needs special start, stop and check characters worked out by a formula or macro first. If the barcode will be scanned by a till or a warehouse system, it is safer to draw it with a barcode generator. Ours makes Code 128, EAN-13, UPC-A, Data Matrix and more, calculates EAN and UPC check digits for you, and downloads SVG or PNG. It makes one barcode at a time for now, which suits label templates and small batches.

• Code 39: works as a plain font with asterisks. Good for simple internal labels.
• Code 128: compact and holds any text, but needs encoding, so use a generator.
• EAN-13 and UPC-A: retail barcodes. The number must be licensed from GS1 before you print it on products.
• Data Matrix and QR: 2D codes, which need a generator or a bulk tool rather than a font.

Excel VBA and AppSheet options

An Excel VBA QR code generator usually does one of two things: it calls an online QR image service from a macro, which has the same privacy problem as the IMAGE formula, or it relies on a third-party barcode add-in. VBA has no QR drawing of its own. If you only need the codes once, the bulk CSV route is quicker and keeps the data in your browser.

AppSheet, Google's no-code app builder, sits on top of a Google Sheet. A column can be marked as scannable, so staff can fill it by pointing a phone camera at a barcode or QR code. It suits stock counts and check-ins where several people add rows from their phones.

Scan barcodes straight into an Excel spreadsheet

The cheapest barcode scanner to Excel setup is a USB or Bluetooth handheld scanner. It behaves like a keyboard: click a cell, scan, and the number is typed in, usually followed by Enter so the next scan lands on the row below. No special app is needed, and it works the same in Google Sheets.

For QR code attendance tracking with Excel, make a code for each attendee from an ID column with the bulk generator, then scan them at the door with a 2D scanner into a column. Press Ctrl+Shift+; in Excel for Windows to type the current time next to each ID.

With no scanner to hand, a phone works too. Open NeoReader's barcode scanner in the browser, scan the code, copy the number and paste it into the sheet. It is slower than a handheld scanner for long lists, but free and nothing to install.