.NET MAUI Barcode Scanner SDK: Build a Cross-Platform Scanner in Minutes

Create the .NET MAUI Project

Open Visual Studio and create a new .NET MAUI App project. Name your MAUI project something descriptive like "BarcodeScanner" and select .NET 8 or later as your target framework. Visual Studio will generate the default project structure with platform-specific folders for Android and iOS.

Install IronBarcode

Install the IronBarcode NuGet package using the Package Manager Console:

Install-Package BarCode

This command downloads and installs the barcode scanner SDK along with all required dependencies for your .NET MAUI application.

Configure Platform Permissions

Even when scanning from image files rather than a live camera, it's good practice to configure the following permissions for your .NET MAUI barcode scanner app.

For Android, add the following to Platforms/Android/AndroidManifest.xml:

<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.READ_EXTERNAL_STORAGE" />
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.CAMERA" />

<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.READ_EXTERNAL_STORAGE" />
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.CAMERA" />

For iOS, add these entries to Platforms/iOS/Info.plist:

<key>NSPhotoLibraryUsageDescription</key>
<string>Access needed to select barcode images for scanning.</string>
<key>NSCameraUsageDescription</key>
<string>Camera permission for barcode scanning.</string>

<key>NSPhotoLibraryUsageDescription</key>
<string>Access needed to select barcode images for scanning.</string>
<key>NSCameraUsageDescription</key>
<string>Camera permission for barcode scanning.</string>

Initialize the SDK

Configure IronBarcode in your MauiProgram.cs file:

public static class MauiProgram
{
    public static MauiApp CreateMauiApp()
    {
        var builder = MauiApp.CreateBuilder();
        builder
            .UseMauiApp<App>()
            .ConfigureFonts(fonts =>
            {
                fonts.AddFont("OpenSans-Regular.ttf", "OpenSansRegular");
            });
        return builder.Build();
    }
}

public static class MauiProgram
{
    public static MauiApp CreateMauiApp()
    {
        var builder = MauiApp.CreateBuilder();
        builder
            .UseMauiApp<App>()
            .ConfigureFonts(fonts =>
            {
                fonts.AddFont("OpenSans-Regular.ttf", "OpenSansRegular");
            });
        return builder.Build();
    }
}

IRON VB CONVERTER ERROR developers@ironsoftware.com

Set your license key in your app's initialization code to enable full functionality. IronBarcode offers a free trial license for development and testing.

Design the User Interface

Create a clean interface in MainPage.xaml that allows users to select an image file and view the scanned barcode data:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<ContentPage xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/dotnet/2021/maui"
             xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2009/xaml"
             x:Class="BarcodeScanner.MainPage">
    <VerticalStackLayout Padding="20" Spacing="15">
        <Label Text=".NET MAUI Barcode Scanner" FontSize="24" HorizontalOptions="Center"/>
        <Button Text="Select Image to Scan" Clicked="OnSelectImageClicked"/>
        <Image x:Name="SelectedImageView" HeightRequest="200"/>
        <Label x:Name="ResultLabel" FontSize="16"/>
    </VerticalStackLayout>
</ContentPage>

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<ContentPage xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/dotnet/2021/maui"
             xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2009/xaml"
             x:Class="BarcodeScanner.MainPage">
    <VerticalStackLayout Padding="20" Spacing="15">
        <Label Text=".NET MAUI Barcode Scanner" FontSize="24" HorizontalOptions="Center"/>
        <Button Text="Select Image to Scan" Clicked="OnSelectImageClicked"/>
        <Image x:Name="SelectedImageView" HeightRequest="200"/>
        <Label x:Name="ResultLabel" FontSize="16"/>
    </VerticalStackLayout>
</ContentPage>

Implement Barcode Scanning

Add the scanning logic to MainPage.xaml.cs. This code handles image selection and barcode detection:

using IronBarCode;
public partial class MainPage : ContentPage
{
    public MainPage()
    {
        InitializeComponent();
    }
    private async void OnSelectImageClicked(object sender, EventArgs e)
    {
        var result = await FilePicker.PickAsync(new PickOptions
        {
            FileTypes = FilePickerFileType.Images,
            PickerTitle = "Select a barcode image"
        });
        if (result != null)
        {
            // Display the selected image
            SelectedImageView.Source = ImageSource.FromFile(result.FullPath);
            // Read barcodes from the image file
            var barcodes = BarcodeReader.Read(result.FullPath);
            if (barcodes.Any())
            {
                ResultLabel.Text = $"Found: {barcodes.First().Value}";
            }
            else
            {
                ResultLabel.Text = "No barcodes detected in selected image.";
            }
        }
    }
}

using IronBarCode;
public partial class MainPage : ContentPage
{
    public MainPage()
    {
        InitializeComponent();
    }
    private async void OnSelectImageClicked(object sender, EventArgs e)
    {
        var result = await FilePicker.PickAsync(new PickOptions
        {
            FileTypes = FilePickerFileType.Images,
            PickerTitle = "Select a barcode image"
        });
        if (result != null)
        {
            // Display the selected image
            SelectedImageView.Source = ImageSource.FromFile(result.FullPath);
            // Read barcodes from the image file
            var barcodes = BarcodeReader.Read(result.FullPath);
            if (barcodes.Any())
            {
                ResultLabel.Text = $"Found: {barcodes.First().Value}";
            }
            else
            {
                ResultLabel.Text = "No barcodes detected in selected image.";
            }
        }
    }
}

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Output

The BarcodeReader.Read() method analyzes the selected image and returns all detected barcodes. IronBarcode automatically recognizes multiple barcode symbologies including QR codes, Code 128, Code 39, EAN-13, and many other formats.

Output

The ReadPdf() method scans all pages of a PDF and returns barcode data along with page numbers, making it easy to process documents containing multiple barcodes.