How to Open a .qrb File

Someone sent you a .qrb file and you are wondering what to do with it. Maybe it arrived in a WhatsApp thread, an iMessage, an email attachment, or an AirDrop pop-up. The file does not open with a tap the way a PDF or a photo does, and your phone is not sure what to do with it. This post is the short version of the answer.

A .qrb is a QR Bundle, a file that holds a collection of QR codes in one container. It is read by NxtTools, the all-in-one mobile utility app from Const Agility, LLC in Houston, Texas. Install NxtTools, open the file, and every code in the bundle shows up as a scrollable list. That is the whole flow. The rest of this post walks the steps, clears up one common misconception about how .qrb files travel, and notes the unrelated projects that share the extension so you do not chase the wrong tool.

TL;DR

• A .qrb file is a QR Bundle — one file holding many QR codes, built and shared on a phone.
• Open it with NxtTools on iPhone, iPad, Android, or an Apple Silicon Mac. No account, no sign-up.
• There is no master QR code that opens a bundle. A .qrb is a file, the same as a PDF or a photo. You share it through the share sheet.
• Other tools also use the .qrb extension (Qt Resource Bundle, NetBrain Runbook, LEGO Mindstorms NXT projects). If your file came from a phone or a colleague's share sheet, it is the NxtTools kind. The format deep dive covers the disambiguation in detail.
• Format spec: github.com/ConstAgility/qrbundle.

What a .qrb file actually is

A QR Bundle is a small ZIP archive holding an ordered list of QR codes. Each entry inside it is a scannable code: a website link, a Wi-Fi handshake, a shipping return label, a calendar event, whatever the sender added to the bundle. The file gives them a way to send the whole set as one attachment instead of texting a dozen separate links or screenshots.

The pillar post, What Is a QR Bundle, tells the story of why the format exists. The short version: a bundle lets the recipient open one file and see every code as one scrollable list, instead of digging through a dozen separate messages.

For the deeper format walkthrough (what is in manifest.json and qrset.json, and why the format keeps each code's raw scannable payload rather than just an image), see The .qrb File Format Explained.

How to open a .qrb file on iPhone or iPad

The flow takes under a minute the first time and is one tap from then on.

Step 1: Install NxtTools from the App Store

Open the App Store listing and install NxtTools. No account is required, and the QR Bundles tool is part of the free on-device toolkit. The first install registers the .qrb extension with iOS, so future bundles open straight from the share sheet.

Step 2: Go back to the message or email that sent the file

Reopen the iMessage, WhatsApp, Mail, or AirDrop notification that delivered the .qrb. Tap the attachment. iOS shows the share sheet or the "Open with" prompt with NxtTools as an option.

Step 3: Pick NxtTools

Tap NxtTools (or Copy to NxtTools on some iOS share-sheet layouts). The app launches into the bundle. Every QR code the sender added appears in one scrollable list.

Step 4: Use any entry

Tap any entry to view the link it carries, open it in Safari, or display the code on the screen so a third-party scanner — say, a carrier counter for a return label — can read it. The share button on each entry lets you forward a single link without forwarding the whole bundle.

How to open a .qrb file on Android

Same shape, different share-sheet wording. Install NxtTools from Google Play — no account, no trial countdown, and the bundle reader is part of the free on-device toolkit.

Step 1: Tap the .qrb attachment

In Gmail, WhatsApp, Telegram, the Files app, or wherever the file landed, tap the attachment. Android's "Open with" sheet surfaces NxtTools.

Step 2: Pick NxtTools

Select NxtTools and the bundle opens directly. You can save the file to your NxtTools library so it stays accessible after you clear the chat thread.

Opening a .qrb on a Mac

If you are on a recent Mac with Apple Silicon (M1, M2, M3, M4 or later), the iPad NxtTools app installs natively from the Mac App Store and runs as a desktop application. The same App Store install path applies — open the App Store page in macOS, install the iPad app, and you can drag a .qrb file onto it to read the bundle without picking up your phone. Intel Macs are not supported via this path.

The myth: there is no master QR code

A .qrb is a file, not a scan. There is no master QR code that, when scanned, opens the bundle on your phone. The bundle is delivered like any other attachment — through a messaging app, email, AirDrop, or a file sync — and opened by tapping the file. If you are expecting to point your camera at a code on someone's screen and have a bundle appear, that is not how it works.

The structural reason: a .qrb carries many entries, sometimes more than a single QR code can physically encode. Treating bundles as files rather than scans is what makes them portable across AirDrop, iMessage, WhatsApp, Drive, and email. You can print a single QR whose payload links to a hosted .qrb, but that is a link to the file, not a QR-addressable bundle.

Other things called .qrb (and how to tell)

The .qrb extension is shared with a Qt resource bundle, a NetBrain runbook, an old LEGO Mindstorms NXT project archive, and the unrelated Jelurida "Nxt" blockchain tools. If your file came from a phone share sheet, iMessage, WhatsApp, or AirDrop, it is the NxtTools kind; if it came from a developer or an IT team, it might be one of the others. The format deep dive covers each collision in detail.

A quick mechanical test: rename the file to .zip and unzip it. A NxtTools bundle contains manifest.json, qrset.json, an assets/ folder, and an optional mimetype marker containing application/vnd.qrbundle. If you see qrset.json, you have a QR Bundle and NxtTools is the app for it.

When NxtTools is not the right fit

A few honest call-outs so this does not read like a sales pitch.

• You only need one QR code, not many. For a single static QR — a Wi-Fi password, a menu link, a contact card — a free web generator like QRCode Monkey is the lower-friction tool. Pillar post QR Bundle vs Single QR Code walks through where the line falls.
• You need scan analytics or rotating destinations. A .qrb is static — the codes inside it do not change after the file leaves the sender's phone, and nothing inside reports back when scanned. If the use case is a marketing campaign that needs a dashboard, a dynamic-QR service like Bitly or Uniqode is the right tool. Not what NxtTools does.
• The recipient refuses to install another app. A .qrb is read by NxtTools today. For one-off interactions with strangers, sending a plain link or a single QR image is lower friction.

The narrow scope of .qrb reading is deliberate. The app you install to read the bundle is not single-purpose, though — NxtTools also bundles a document scanner, PDF tools (compress, merge, grayscale, extract pages, export pages as images), image tools, and a signature pad in the same free install. The next time you need to scan a contract, shrink a PDF, or sign an image on your phone, the tool is already there.

FAQ

How do I open a .qrb file?

Install NxtTools from the App Store or Google Play, then tap the .qrb attachment in the message, email, or AirDrop share that delivered it. Pick NxtTools from the share sheet and the bundle opens to a scrollable list of every QR code inside. No account, no sign-up. There is no master QR code that opens a .qrb — it is a file, not a scan.

What is the best QR bundle app?

NxtTools is the only app that reads and writes .qrb files today, which makes it the QR bundle app by default. It is free with no account required, runs entirely on your phone for QR Bundles, and the .qrb format itself is published as a public spec at github.com/ConstAgility/qrbundle. A richer item-card experience built on the same format is coming separately at QRly.

How do I share multiple QR codes in one place?

Build a QR Bundle in NxtTools by scanning or pasting each code into a single bundle, name it, and tap Share. The result is one .qrb file you send over AirDrop, iMessage, WhatsApp, or email like any other attachment. The recipient opens it in NxtTools and sees every code in one scrollable list, instead of digging through a thread of separate messages.

Can I open a .qrb file without installing an app?

Not today. The .qrb extension is read by NxtTools, and the file is a structured ZIP archive rather than a single image or link. You can rename the file to .zip and unzip it to inspect the JSON inside, but to view the bundle as scrollable QR codes you need NxtTools on iPhone, iPad, Android, or an Apple Silicon Mac.

Get NxtTools

Opening a .qrb takes one install and one tap on the attachment. QR Bundles is part of the free on-device toolkit — no account, no sign-up, no trial countdown. The same install also gives you a document scanner, PDF tools, image tools, and a signature pad, so the next on-the-phone job has a tool waiting.

• iPhone & iPad — App Store
• Mac (Apple Silicon, M1 and up) — Mac App Store (same iPad app, installs natively as a desktop application; Intel Macs are not supported via this path)
• Android — Google Play

If the richer item-card vision built on the same .qrb format is what you actually want, qrly.space is where that is heading.