EAN-13 Barcode Scanner
Scan any EAN-13 barcode instantly right in your browser — no app to install, no account to create. This free online EAN-13 scanner reads retail product codes in seconds using your camera or an uploaded image.
EAN-13 / UPC Barcode Scanner
Scan retail barcodes instantly — camera or image. Free, private, no signup.
Point at the barcode — EAN-13, EAN-8, UPC-A & UPC-E are detected automatically.
🔒 100% private — camera frames and images never leave this browser. No uploads, no tracking.
How to scan an EAN-13 barcode
- Allow camera access or upload a barcode image.
- Point your camera at the barcode or drop the image into the upload area.
- Read the decoded number instantly — ISBNs get automatic book lookup links.
What is an EAN-13 barcode?
The EAN-13 is the 13-digit retail barcode used worldwide. Its first digits identify the country of origin, and you will find it on almost every product in stores. If you use our free barcode scanner regularly, you will recognize the format instantly — and when you need to create your own codes, try our barcode generator.
This tool also reads 12-digit UPC-A codes found on products sold in the US.
EAN-13 vs UPC-A: What’s the Difference?
EAN-13 and UPC-A look almost identical, and for good reason: a UPC-A barcode is essentially an EAN-13 with a leading zero. EAN-13 carries 13 digits and is the standard retail barcode outside North America, while UPC-A carries 12 digits and dominates US and Canadian stores. Our scanner reads both — if you scan a US product and get a 12-digit result, that’s UPC-A; a 13-digit result starting with anything other than zero is EAN-13.
The first two or three digits of an EAN-13 are the GS1 country prefix (e.g. 978/979 for books, 500–509 for the UK, 690–699 for China). These prefixes identify where the manufacturer registered, not necessarily where the product was made.
How the EAN-13 Check Digit Works
The 13th digit of every EAN-13 barcode is a check digit, calculated from the other twelve using a modulo-10 formula with alternating weights of 1 and 3. Its job is simple: catch mis-scans and typos. If a single digit is misread, the check digit won’t match, and the code is rejected rather than silently decoded wrong.
When you scan with our tool, the check digit is validated automatically — a green result means the code is structurally valid. If you’re generating your own EAN-13 barcodes, always compute this digit correctly; most barcode generators do it for you.
Scanning ISBN Barcodes on Books
Every modern book carries an EAN-13 barcode encoding its 13-digit ISBN (starting with 978 or 979). Scan the back-cover barcode with this tool and you’ll get the ISBN instantly — plus one-click lookup links for Google Books and Open Library to see the title, author, and cover. For a deeper guide, see our article on how to scan ISBN barcodes.
Yes — unlimited scans, no signup required.
Yes. Twelve-digit UPC-A codes, common on US products, are decoded automatically.
Book barcodes starting with 978 or 979 are auto-detected, and you will get handy book lookup links for Open Library and Google Books.
Absolutely. Everything runs in your browser; nothing is uploaded anywhere.