NFC Test

This NFC test checks the NFC reader in your phone and shows what is stored on a tag. Press Start scanning, touch a tag, sticker or card to the back of the phone, and the page shows the tag's serial number, a guess at the chip maker and every record decoded: text, links, contact cards and other data. You can also write a short test text to a spare tag. As an NFC reader it works in Chrome on Android phones. iPhones do not let web pages use NFC, so the page gives you two quick checks for iPhone instead, and on a computer it shows a QR code to open the NFC test online on your phone.

How to test NFC on your phone

1. Open this page in Chrome on your Android phone and make sure NFC is on in the quick settings panel.
2. Press Start scanning and allow NFC if Chrome asks.
3. Hold a tag flat against the back of the phone, near the camera, and keep it still for a second. The phone buzzes or beeps when it reads. If it never buzzes for anything, run the vibration test as well.
4. Read the serial number and records on the right. Touch the same tag a few more times: a healthy reader gets it every time.
5. No tag? Tap a contactless bank or transit card instead. The page reports a card it cannot read, which still proves the reader works.
6. To check writing, press Write test text, read the warning, and touch a blank or spare sticker.

What the results mean

The phone does not react to any tag

• NFC is off. On a Pixel, open Settings, then Connected devices, then Connection preferences, then NFC. On a Samsung Galaxy, open Settings, then Connections, then NFC and contactless payments.
• Chrome is not allowed to use NFC. Tap the icon at the left of the address bar, then Permissions, and allow NFC devices. Chrome also needs the screen on, the phone unlocked and this tab in front.
• The tag is at the wrong spot. Phones read tags only within about 2 to 4 cm of their antenna. Slide the tag slowly over the whole back.
• The phone has no NFC. Many budget phones leave it out. Check your model's specifications.
• A hardware fault. If NFC is on and nothing reacts, not even a bank card tapped all over the back, the antenna or its connector has failed. On many phones it sits on the same part as the wireless charging coil, so if that stopped working too, the shared part is the likely culprit.

Tags read only sometimes or need many tries

A reader that works on the third try is usually being blocked rather than broken:

• The case. Metal plates for magnetic car mounts, magnets in folio cases and cards kept in the case all get in the way. Take the case off and test again. The same plates and magnets can also throw off the phone's compass, which the compass test shows.
• Tags on metal. A normal sticker on a metal surface barely works. Use tags sold as anti-metal or on-metal for fridges, cars and machines.
• Small tags. Tiny key fob and coin tags have small antennas and must sit right over the phone's antenna.
• Moving too fast. Hold the tag still for a full second, longer when writing.

Contactless payments fail but tags read fine

If this page reads tags but tap to pay fails, NFC works and the wallet setup is the issue. On a Pixel, open Settings, then Connected devices, then Connection preferences, then NFC, then Contactless payments, then Payment default, and pick Google Wallet. On a Samsung Galaxy, open Settings, then Connections, then NFC and contactless payments, and pick the wallet under Default wallet app, called Contactless payments on older models. Make sure the phone is unlocked before you tap, and check the card in the wallet app has not expired.

NFC tag types

NFC tags follow the NFC Forum's types 1 to 5, and phones read all of them that hold the standard data format:

• Type 2, such as NTAG213, NTAG215 and NTAG216 stickers, is by far the most common. They hold 144, 504 and 888 bytes of user memory, enough for a link or a short text.
• Type 4 covers smarter chips such as MIFARE DESFire, used in some transit and access cards.
• Type 3 is Sony FeliCa, common in Japan.
• Type 5 chips, also called NFC-V, are built to be read from further away by dedicated readers and appear in library and shop labels. A phone still needs them within a few centimeters.
• MIFARE Classic, still used in many hotel keys and older office badges, is not an NFC Forum type, and many phones cannot read it at all. This page lists those as unreadable.

Checking NFC on an iPhone

Every iPhone from the iPhone 7 on has an NFC reader, and there is no switch for it: it is always on. Web pages cannot use it, so check it in one of these ways:

1. Open Shortcuts, tap Automation, then the add button, choose NFC and tap Scan. Hold a tag near the top of the phone. Seeing the tag means the reader works (iPhone XS and later).
2. Pay with Apple Pay at a card terminal. A tick on the screen means NFC works.
3. On iPhone XS and later, hold a tag that stores a link to the top edge with the screen on. A notice appears without opening any app.

What a web NFC reader cannot do

Browsers only read and write the standard NFC data format, called NDEF. A web page cannot read a tag's raw memory, card numbers from bank cards, or MIFARE Classic data, and it cannot pretend to be a card. Web NFC works only in Chrome on Android, not on iPhones or computers. This test also leaves out locking a tag for good, which cannot be undone.

Other wireless checks for your devices: the bluetooth test covers the other short range radio in your phone and computer, and for QR codes and barcodes, which need the camera rather than NFC, use the barcode reader online. If wireless charging has also stopped, compare cables and pads with the charging speed test.

NFC test questions