How to make a QR code for a Google Maps location
Copy or build a Google Maps link for your venue, turn it into a QR code, send iPhone and Mac visitors to Apple Maps, and test it before you print.
To make a QR code for a Google Maps location, copy the place’s link from Google Maps (or build one) and paste it into a QR code generator. If you put a short link in between, you can also send iPhone, iPad and Mac visitors to Apple Maps and change the place later without reprinting.
This guide follows a made-up choir whose concert is at Riverside Community Hall, 14 Station Road, Millbrook. Its entrance is on Mill Lane. The guide doesn’t cover live location sharing or embedded maps.
Choose what the link should open
A map link can open three things:
| Link type | What opens | Good for |
|---|---|---|
| Place | The venue on the map, with its name | Invitations and posters |
| General search | Results for words like “cafés” | Rarely right for one venue |
| Directions | A route from where the person is | Signs along the way |
Pick a named place: guests then see the hall’s name. A pin doesn’t show which door to use, so the choir prints “Entrance on Mill Lane” next to the code and on its event page.
Get a Google Maps link for the venue
In the Google Maps app, search for the venue, select its name or address at the bottom, choose Share and send the link to yourself. On a computer, find the venue and follow Google’s sharing help: Menu, Share or embed map, Send a link, then Copy link. Open the copied link in a private window and check that it shows the hall.
To build one, use Google’s Maps URLs format, which needs no API key. When a search matches one place, Google shows a pin for it:
https://www.google.com/maps/search/?api=1&query=Riverside%20Community%20Hall%2C%20Millbrook
api=1 is required. If you know the venue’s place ID, add it as query_place_id. Google calls that the best guarantee of the right place. For directions, use maps/dir/?api=1&destination= instead. Write spaces as %20 and commas as %2C. Google says these links open the Google Maps app on Android and iPhone when it’s installed, and a browser otherwise.
Build an Apple Maps link for iPhone, iPad and Mac
Apple has its own unified Maps URLs on maps.apple.com:
https://maps.apple.com/place?address=14%20Station%20Road,%20Millbrook
To pin the Mill Lane entrance rather than the postal address, use coordinate with the entrance’s latitude and longitude, and add name=Riverside%20Community%20Hall to label the pin. For directions, use directions?destination= instead. Sharing the place from Apple Maps gives you a link too.
Apple documents this format for iOS 18.4 and macOS 15.4 or later. If guests use older iPhones or Macs, test on one.
Send Apple devices to Apple Maps from one short link
In the Links app, create a link with the Google Maps link as its destination. Open it, choose Add rule, paste the Apple Maps link as the rule’s destination and select iOS and macOS under Platforms. macOS also covers iPads that request desktop websites, because their browsers report a Mac. Everyone else gets the main destination. The routing guide explains rules.
The rule follows the device. An iPhone owner who prefers Google Maps still gets Apple Maps, because Links can’t see which apps are installed. Destinations must be web addresses (http or https), so maps:// and comgooglemaps:// aren’t accepted. Add “Prefer Google Maps? Search Riverside Community Hall, Millbrook” to the invitation.
Test every route, then make the QR code
Test the short link on each device:
| Test device | Links sends it to | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| iPhone with Google Maps | Apple Maps (rule) | The hall, and which app opened |
| iPad | Apple Maps (rule) | The hall, not Google Maps |
| Mac | Apple Maps (rule) | The hall, in Maps or the browser |
| Android phone | Google Maps (main) | The hall, in the app or browser |
| Windows laptop | Google Maps (main) | The hall, in the browser |
Then open the link in Links, press QR code and download PNG or SVG. The code holds the short link, not the map link, so you can change the destination later.
Without a short link, paste the Google Maps link into a QR code generator and check that the code holds that link, not the generator’s own short address, which can stop working. Test it on an iPhone and an Android phone.
Print a proof at the final size and scan it with several phones. For sizing, see what size a QR code should be.
Update the location without reprinting
If the concert moves, first write down both current addresses so you can switch back. The editing guide explains why. Then edit the main destination with the new Google Maps link and the rule with the new Apple Maps link. Changing one doesn’t change the other. Repeat the test table, and tell guests about the move: the printed text still names the old hall.
If statistics show clicks from iOS or macOS but none for the rule’s destination, check the rule’s platforms. Creating links is free. Each counted click uses 0.05 credits, and links pause when the paying account runs out, so check the balance before the concert.
Links gives the concert one short link and QR code for Apple Maps and Google Maps.