Skip to main content
QRSenBuilt for business
Core Concepts

QR Code Finder Pattern

Finder patterns are the three large square-in-a-square markers in the top-left, top-right and bottom-left corners of a QR code — they let a scanner instantly detect the code's position, size and orientation, even if it's tilted or at an angle.

This is also why a QR code is instantly visually recognizable: the three-corner pattern with one corner deliberately left out is a distinctive enough shape that people can identify "that's a QR code" from across a room, long before a scanner ever gets involved.

Because the finder patterns encode orientation, a QR code can be scanned upside-down, sideways, or at a steep angle and still resolve correctly — something a 1D barcode, which needs a roughly straight-on pass, can't do.