QR Code Capacity by Version (1–40): Full Table

The maximums

A QR code's capacity depends on three things: its version (size, from 1 to 40), its error-correction level (L, M, Q or H) and the encoding mode chosen for the characters. The absolute limits, at version 40 (177×177 modules) with level L, are:

Mode	Level L	Level M	Level Q	Level H
Numeric (0–9)	7,089	5,596	3,993	3,057
Alphanumeric	4,296	3,391	2,420	1,852
Byte (UTF-8 text, URLs)	2,953	2,331	1,663	1,273

Kanji mode, used for Japanese text, tops out at 1,817 characters. Note that byte capacity counts bytes, not characters: an accented letter takes 2 bytes in UTF-8, most Chinese or Japanese characters 3, and an emoji 4.

Encoding modes

Numeric — digits only, packed three digits into 10 bits. The densest mode.
Alphanumeric — 45 characters: 0–9, upper-case A–Z, space and $ % * + - . / :. Two characters per 11 bits. Lower-case letters are not included.
Byte — any data, 8 bits per byte. Web links (which contain lower-case letters) and most text use this mode.
Kanji — Shift JIS double-byte characters, 13 bits each.

Encoders can switch modes within one code to save space; the generator on this site encodes everything as UTF-8 bytes, which every phone reads correctly.

Capacity of every version

Byte-mode capacity for each error-correction level, plus numeric and alphanumeric capacity at level L. Each version adds 4 modules per side: version v is (17 + 4v) modules square. Figures were computed with an ISO/IEC 18004-conformant encoder and match the published specification tables.

Version	Modules	Bytes L	Bytes M	Bytes Q	Bytes H	Numeric L	Alnum L
1	21×21	17	14	11	7	41	25
2	25×25	32	26	20	14	77	47
3	29×29	53	42	32	24	127	77
4	33×33	78	62	46	34	187	114
5	37×37	106	84	60	44	255	154
6	41×41	134	106	74	58	322	195
7	45×45	154	122	86	64	370	224
8	49×49	192	152	108	84	461	279
9	53×53	230	180	130	98	552	335
10	57×57	271	213	151	119	652	395
11	61×61	321	251	177	137	772	468
12	65×65	367	287	203	155	883	535
13	69×69	425	331	241	177	1,022	619
14	73×73	458	362	258	194	1,101	667
15	77×77	520	412	292	220	1,250	758
16	81×81	586	450	322	250	1,408	854
17	85×85	644	504	364	280	1,548	938
18	89×89	718	560	394	310	1,725	1,046
19	93×93	792	624	442	338	1,903	1,153
20	97×97	858	666	482	382	2,061	1,249
21	101×101	929	711	509	403	2,232	1,352
22	105×105	1,003	779	565	439	2,409	1,460
23	109×109	1,091	857	611	461	2,620	1,588
24	113×113	1,171	911	661	511	2,812	1,704
25	117×117	1,273	997	715	535	3,057	1,853
26	121×121	1,367	1,059	751	593	3,283	1,990
27	125×125	1,465	1,125	805	625	3,517	2,132
28	129×129	1,528	1,190	868	658	3,669	2,223
29	133×133	1,628	1,264	908	698	3,909	2,369
30	137×137	1,732	1,370	982	742	4,158	2,520
31	141×141	1,840	1,452	1,030	790	4,417	2,677
32	145×145	1,952	1,538	1,112	842	4,686	2,840
33	149×149	2,068	1,628	1,168	898	4,965	3,009
34	153×153	2,188	1,722	1,228	958	5,253	3,183
35	157×157	2,303	1,809	1,283	983	5,529	3,351
36	161×161	2,431	1,911	1,351	1,051	5,836	3,537
37	165×165	2,563	1,989	1,423	1,093	6,153	3,729
38	169×169	2,699	2,099	1,499	1,139	6,479	3,927
39	173×173	2,809	2,213	1,579	1,219	6,743	4,087
40	177×177	2,953	2,331	1,663	1,273	7,089	4,296

What real payloads need

Most everyday codes are small. Encoded as UTF-8 bytes:

Payload	Length	Version at M
`https://qr.technology`	21 bytes	2 (25×25)
Wi-Fi: `WIFI:T:WPA;S:CafeGuest;P:coffee-2026;;`	38 bytes	3 (29×29)
A 46-character page URL	46 bytes	4 (33×33)
The same URL at level H	46 bytes	6 (41×41)

A typical vCard with name, phone, email and company lands around 120–200 bytes — version 7 to 10 at level M. That is still easy to scan on a business card, but it is a visibly finer grid than a short link.

Keep codes small

Just because a code can hold 2,953 bytes doesn't mean it should. Every version step makes the modules smaller at the same print size, which means a steadier hand, better light and a sharper print are needed. To keep a code coarse and robust:

Link, don't embed. Put long content on a web page and encode its URL. See QR codes for a PDF.
Shorten the URL — drop tracking parameters and use a short path on your own domain.
Pick the lowest error-correction level that fits your conditions; at the same version, H holds less than half of what L holds. See error correction levels.
Print bigger when the payload is long. See sizes and print resolution.

Watch the version change live

Type into the generator and the readout shows the version and module count as your data grows.

Open the generator

Frequently asked questions

What is the maximum capacity of a QR code?

At version 40 with error correction L: 7,089 numeric digits, 4,296 alphanumeric characters or 2,953 bytes. Higher error-correction levels reduce these limits.

How many characters can a QR code hold for a URL?

URLs are encoded in byte mode, so up to 2,953 bytes at level L or 2,331 at level M. In practice keep links under about 100 characters so the code stays easy to scan.

What size is a version 1 QR code?

21×21 modules. Each version adds 4 modules per side, up to 177×177 for version 40.

Does error correction reduce capacity?

Yes. The same version holds about 20% less at M than at L, and roughly 55–60% less at H than at L, because more space goes to recovery codewords.

QR code capacity: how much data fits?