Business 2026-02-25 3 min By Cornelious Fazal
Create a Location QR Code Free · No signup · Permanent

QR Code for Google Maps: Share Your Location, Address and Directions Instantly

Quick Answer

Create a QR code that opens your exact location in Google Maps - no address typing, no wrong turns. Essential for restaurants, venues, tradespeople, event.

Why Create a QR Code for Your Location?

Printing your address on a business card, flyer, or signage requires the recipient to: read the address, remember it perfectly, open Google Maps, type it in, and hope autocomplete selects the right one. A QR code replaces all of that with one scan - directly opening Google Maps (or Apple Maps, Waze, or any installed maps app) with your exact pin loaded, ready to navigate.

This is particularly valuable for: locations with complicated postcodes, businesses in shared premises (floor number, unit number), pop-up events in temporary locations, tradespeople working from multiple sites, rural locations where address matching is unreliable, and any businesses with a name that differs from their address.

Method 1: Google Maps Share Link (Recommended)

This is the most reliable method - it opens a pin with your exact verified Google Maps listing.

  1. Open Google Maps (desktop at maps.google.com is easiest).
  2. Search for your business name. If your business is listed on Google, it appears with a panel on the left. If it is a home address or unlisted location, search the address and click the pin.
  3. Click Share in the left panel (on mobile: tap the address → Share button).
  4. Select Send a link, then Copy link.
  5. The link looks like: https://maps.app.goo.gl/xxxxxx (shortened) or https://www.google.com/maps/place/... (full URL).
  6. Paste this URL into our Free QR Code Generator, generate, download.

When scanned, this opens the Google Maps app (if installed) or Google Maps in the browser, with your exact pin. The visitor taps "Directions" and navigates directly to your location.

Method 2: geo: URI (Works Without Internet at Point of Scan)

The geo: URI scheme is a standard that opens the device's default maps application (any maps app - Google Maps, Apple Maps, Samsung Maps, Waze) using GPS coordinates, without requiring a network request at the moment of scanning.

Format: geo:LATITUDE,LONGITUDE

Example (Big Ben, London): geo:51.500729,-0.124625

To find your coordinates: search your location in Google Maps, right-click the pin, and the coordinates appear at the top of the context menu. Copy them exactly.

The geo: code works offline (opens maps with the coordinates, showing cached or satellite map data) and opens whatever maps app the user has installed as default - making it more universal than the Google Maps URL, which always opens Google Maps specifically.

Method 3: Google Maps Directions QR Code

You can QR-code a specific directions link rather than just your location. This is useful when you want to specify the travel mode (walking, cycling, public transport) or specify an origin point (e.g., directions from the train station to your venue).

  1. In Google Maps, enter the origin and destination in the Directions box.
  2. Select the travel mode (car, walking, transit, cycling).
  3. Click Share → Copy link.
  4. Generate your QR code from that URL.

Use case: a venue's website and printed invitations include a QR code that opens walking directions from the nearest train station to the venue entrance - tailored to the most likely arrival method for the guest audience.

Where to Add Your Location QR Code

  • Business cards and stationery
  • Flyers, leaflets, and event invitations
  • Email signatures (as an image)
  • Google Business Profile (in the products, posts, or images section)
  • Your website's contact page
  • Signage outside temporary or pop-up locations
  • Delivery confirmation emails with "find our collection point" QR code

Frequently Asked Questions

A Google Maps share link (maps.app.goo.gl format) will always open Google Maps - either the app if installed, or Google Maps in the mobile browser. If you want the code to open Apple Maps for iPhone users and Google Maps for Android users (each using the platform's preferred mapping tool), use the geo: URI format instead. The geo: scheme opens the device's default maps application, which is Apple Maps on an iPhone that hasn't changed its default, and Google Maps on most Android devices.

A QR code linking to your exact Google Maps pin is more reliable than written instructions for most users. For genuinely difficult-to-find locations (inside a complex, through a specific entrance, via a particular road), supplement the QR code with a short text note alongside it: "Scan for maps directions - enter via the car park on Mill Lane, not the front entrance on High Street." The QR code handles the navigation; the text note provides the on-foot nuance that Google Maps cannot convey.

You do not need a Google Business Profile listing to create a location QR code. Use Method 2 (geo: URI) with your exact GPS coordinates, or use Method 1 with the URL for the address pin (not a business listing pin) from Google Maps. If you regularly direct customers to your physical location, creating a free Google Business Profile at business.google.com is worth doing - it provides a verified pin with business hours, photos, reviews, and directions all in one scannable result.

Yes. Apple Maps has its own URL scheme: https://maps.apple.com/?q=LATITUDE,LONGITUDE or https://maps.apple.com/?address=Your+Street,+City. Generate a QR code from an Apple Maps URL and it opens Apple Maps directly when scanned on an iPhone. On Android, it opens in a browser and prompts to choose a maps app. For a UK business primarily serving iPhone users (majority UK market), an Apple Maps URL may be appropriate. For a mixed device audience, geo: URI or Google Maps share link covers more users reliably.
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