QR codes work well on a menu, a flyer, or a piece of packaging, where a phone is a separate device from the thing being scanned. Drop one into an email newsletter and the physics of the interaction fall apart, because the reader is usually already looking at the code on the same device they would need to use to scan it.
The Gap Between QR Codes in Print and QR Codes in Email
A print QR code assumes the reader's phone is in one hand and the printed material is somewhere else, a table, a wall, a piece of mail. An email newsletter breaks that assumption immediately if it is opened on a phone, which describes a large share of email opens today. The reader is not going to open a second device to scan a code on the screen they are already reading.
Why Scanning Your Own Inbox Is Physically Awkward
Even on desktop, where the phone-to-screen scanning motion technically works, it requires the reader to stop reading, pick up their phone, open a camera app, and aim it at their monitor. That is a lot of friction compared to just clicking a link, which the same email could have offered instead with zero extra steps. Every additional step in that chain loses some percentage of readers who would have otherwise followed through.
Email Clients That Strip or Block Images by Default
A QR code is an image, and a meaningful share of email clients block images by default until the recipient explicitly chooses to display them. A code that never loads cannot be scanned at all, and unlike a broken link, a missing image in an email newsletter often does not even register as an error to the reader, it just looks like empty space they scroll past.
Photo by BM Amaro on Pexels
What Happens When the Code Technically Works but Nobody Tries
Even when the image loads and displays correctly, the friction described above means click-through on an in-email QR code tends to badly underperform a plain hyperlink or button doing the exact same job. The code is not broken in the technical sense covered in most QR code troubleshooting guides, it is simply asking the reader to do more work than the format justifies in this specific context.
When a QR Code in Email Actually Makes Sense
There is one situation where it genuinely works: when the destination is something meant to be used on a different device than the one reading the email, like a WiFi network, an app store listing meant to be scanned from a desktop email on a work computer, or an event check-in code meant to be saved and later scanned at a physical location. In those cases the code is not competing with a simpler alternative, it is doing something a plain link cannot.
"A QR code in an email is solving a problem the reader doesn't have. They're already on a screen, give them a link, not a photo of a link." - Dennis Traina, founder of 137Foundry
Alternatives That Convert Better on Mobile
For the overwhelming majority of newsletter use cases, a well-labeled button or plain hyperlink outperforms a scannable code, because it works with a single tap regardless of whether the reader is on their phone, tablet, or desktop. If the goal is tracking clicks the way a unique QR code might, a tracked link parameter accomplishes the same thing without asking the reader to leave the app they are already in.
If You Still Want to Include One, Do This
If there is a genuine reason to include a QR code anyway, pair it with a plain-text link as a fallback directly underneath, and make sure the surrounding copy explains what scanning it will do before the reader commits to picking up a second device. Don't rely on the code alone to carry the call to action, since a request that asks for extra effort, like picking up a second device, converts worse than one that doesn't, regardless of format. Nielsen Norman Group has written extensively on how added friction of any kind reduces completion rates in digital interactions, and the same principle applies here.
Testing Your Subject Line and Content Together
Getting someone to open the email in the first place matters more than any layout decision inside it, since a QR code, a button, or a link are all irrelevant if the message never gets opened. Testing your subject line before you send, alongside the actual content and call to action inside, catches weak open rates before they become a pattern across your list rather than after.
What I've Seen When Testing This With Real Sends
Comparing click-through on identical newsletter content, one version using a scannable code for the main call to action and one version using a plain button linking to the exact same destination, the button consistently wins by a wide margin in most audiences. The gap tends to be largest on mobile-heavy lists, which is the opposite of what people often assume, since mobile is exactly where the friction of pulling up a second scanning app is most punishing rather than least.
Desktop Readers Are Not Automatically Better Candidates Either
It is tempting to assume a QR code makes more sense for a newsletter read primarily on desktop, since at least the reader has the mental model of the code being separate from the device they're using to click. In practice this still requires stopping mid-read, finding a phone, opening a camera app, and aiming it at a monitor, which most people simply will not do for a routine newsletter unless the payoff feels significant enough to justify the interruption.
A Better Use of the Same Screen Real Estate
Space in an email newsletter is limited, and every inch given to a QR code is an inch not spent on a clear headline, a compelling reason to click, or a well-labeled button. If click-through is the goal, that same visual space usually converts better as a bigger, more obvious button with clear copy about what happens after the click, since it removes every step between reading and acting instead of adding one.
The One Metric Worth Tracking If You're Unsure
If your team is debating whether to keep using QR codes in email at all, the simplest way to settle it is a direct A/B test: send the same newsletter to two segments of your list, one with a QR code as the primary call to action and one with a plain button linking to the identical destination, then compare click-through directly. Rather than relying on general advice like this piece, your own list's behavior is the only data that actually settles the question for your specific audience.
One Exception Worth Naming Again
The check-in and WiFi examples earlier aren't the only exception. A physical event badge or lanyard that includes a QR code meant to be scanned by staff using a dedicated scanner, not the attendee's own phone, is another legitimate case, since the constraint driving the "don't use QR in email" advice, the reader already holding the scanning device, doesn't apply the same way when someone else entirely is doing the scanning.
Putting It Together
Most QR code use cases assume a gap between the device showing the code and the device scanning it, and email newsletters usually do not have that gap. The free email subject line tester by EvvyTools checks your subject line for length, spam-trigger words, and clarity before you send, which is a better place to spend design effort than a scannable code most readers will scroll past. For the technical side of QR codes, including when they do make sense and how to make sure they actually scan, see EvvyTools' full guide on the subject. More free tools are available at EvvyTools.
Top comments (0)