Free hall pass generator, with a sign-out log for Google Sheets
The free QR to Sheets hall pass generator prints hall passes and a bathroom sign-out sheet for your room, and builds a Google Sheets hall pass log that works out how long each student was out when their QR card is scanned on the way out and on the way back. No account, no email, no watermark.
Updated
1. Your room
4 destinations, 4 passes.
The return time is printed on each pass and is also the limit the Google Sheets log flags.
2. Your class, for the Google Sheets log (optional)
One student per line: name, then ID. Copy the two columns straight out of Google Sheets or Excel, or type Ava Thompson | 1001. A list of names only works too: we give each student an ID. The list fills the log's Students tab and the ID cards; the passes do not need it.
0 students on the log
3. Print or download
Passes are credit-card size; print on card stock and laminate them to reuse. The sign-out sheet prints on the same paper, 25 trips per page. Keep the scale at 100%.
Your hall passes
Preview: 1 A4 sheet, 10per sheet. Print at 100% scale (not "Fit to page").
Your sign-out sheet
Preview: 1 A4 page, 25 rows. Print at 100% scale.
| Date | Name | Destination | Time out | Time back | Minutes | Initials |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Minutes = time back minus time out. One line per trip.
How do you make a hall pass log in Google Sheets?
Keep one row per trip with the student, the time out and the time back, and work out minutes out as (time back minus time out) x 1440; this generator builds that log for you. To make it by hand, head the columns Date, Name, Time out and Time back, put =(D2-C2)*1440 in a Minutes column, and total each student with SUMIF(B:B,"Ava Thompson",E:E). It is free and fine for one room.
Where it breaks: the teacher types every time, mid-lesson, and the Time back column is the one nobody fills in. The log this page downloads fills both times from scans instead.
Can you run a free digital hall pass with a Google Form?
Yes. Make a form that asks for the student's name and destination, print its QR code for the door, and link the form to a Google Sheet. Students submit it on the way out and again on the way back.
Where it breaks: every student needs a device, two submissions per trip have to be paired up by formula, a forgotten return leaves the trip open, and anyone can submit from anywhere. We make QR to Sheets, so weigh this: the form route costs nothing.
How does the scanned hall pass log work?
- 1. Print a card for each student. Press Make QR ID cards for this class above, or open the free QR code ID card maker. The codes hold the same IDs as the Students tab.
- 2. Point a scanner link at the Scans tab. Import the download into Google Sheets, sign up free, create a scanner link named for your room and pick this spreadsheet and its Scans tab. Leave the link's Accept duplicate scans setting on, as it is by default, or the scan on the way back is refused.
- 3. Scan out and back. Open the link on your phone and scan the student's card when they leave and when they come back. The students being scanned never open the link and need nothing.
- 4. Read Trips and Students. Trips shows each scan as Out or Back with the minutes out and a flag for long trips; Students shows trips and minutes per student, and OUT beside whoever is out now.
Cell F2 of the Trips tab decides Out or Back. With one scanner link, the first scan of the day is Out and the second is Back; a second scan within a minute counts once:
=IF(E2="","",IF(COUNTIFS(B$1:B1,B2,D$1:D1,D2,F$1:F1,"<>Repeat",E$1:E1,">"&(E2-1/1440),E$1:E1,"<"&(E2+1/1440))>0,"Repeat",IF(ISEVEN(COUNTIFS(B$1:B1,B2,D$1:D1,D2,F$1:F1,"<>Repeat")),"Out","Back")))Cell G2 works out the minutes for a Back, from the latest Out before it:
=IF(F2<>"Back","",IF(COUNTIFS(B$1:B1,B2,D$1:D1,D2,F$1:F1,"Out",E$1:E1,"<="&(E2+1/172800))=0,"",ROUND(ROUND((E2-MAXIFS(E$1:E1,B$1:B1,B2,D$1:D1,D2,F$1:F1,"Out",E$1:E1,"<="&(E2+1/172800)))*86400,0)/60,0)))QR to Sheets writes the time as text in the form 2026-10-12 08:31:05, which sorts correctly but is not a date to Google Sheets; the log converts it in its Time value column, and your own formulas need VALUE(). Set the timezone first, or the times will not match the clock on the wall.
Rather not hold the phone? Students can hold their own card up to a tablet by the door, which is still one device.
Log hall passes by scan, freeEach phone that scans counts as one device. Free covers one phone; Premium is $7 per phone per month. People being scanned never open the link and need nothing.
Hall pass apps, a Google Form or a Sheet: which fits?
Paper wins when there are no devices and no time to set anything up. A Google Form wins when it must cost nothing and students have devices. A hall pass app such as Hallwise wins when you want a live timer on a kiosk, a cap on students out at once, or pair restrictions. A QR to Sheets scanner link wins when you want the log in your own Google Sheet, students tap nothing, and the same phone and link habit also takes the class register.
| Question | Paper sign-out sheet (printed here) | Google Form | Hallwise (free hall pass app) | QR to Sheets scanner link |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cost for one teacher | Free | Free | "Free for one teacher"; a school plan is $999 a year, flat | Free for 300 scans, then $7 per scanning phone per month |
| Who records the trip | The student writes a line, out and back | The student submits the form, out and back | The student taps their name on a kiosk, or opens a Google Classroom Quick Link | The teacher scans the student's card on one phone, out and back |
| Live timer | No | No | Yes, it turns red after 10 minutes | No; the Sheet shows who is out and flags long trips |
| Where the log lives | On paper | Your Google Sheet | In the app, with export to Excel | Your own Google Sheet |
| Student devices needed | No | Yes, or a shared device by the door | No with a Chromebook kiosk by the door; yes with a Quick Link | No; students carry a printed card |
| Setup | Print and go | Build a form, link it to a Sheet, print its QR code | Sign in with Google; classes sync from Google Classroom | Print ID cards, sign up, create a scanner link |
Hallwise details are from its own teachers page (hallwise.com/teachers, read 12 October 2026). We make QR to Sheets.
What a hall pass record can and cannot tell you
A scan records who and when, not the destination. Keep the paper sheet's Destination column, or use a form, if you need it. A code also proves that a card was presented, not who was holding it (what QR attendance can and cannot prove).
QR to Sheets stores each scan's value, time and an anonymous device identifier and writes it to your Google Sheet; scan records are kept until you reset or delete the workspace. Put the student ID in the code rather than the name, and check your school's policy before logging student movements. Is QR to Sheets safe for student data?
Questions
Is the hall pass generator free?+
Yes. No account, no email and no watermark. The passes, the sign-out sheet and the log are made in your browser, so your class list is never uploaded. Recording scans is the part QR to Sheets charges for after the first 300 scans: each phone that scans counts as one device, Free covers one phone, and Premium is $7 per phone per month.
Can a Google Sheet count how many minutes a student was out?+
Yes. Subtract the time out from the time back and multiply by 1440, the number of minutes in a day. The hall pass log from this page does it from the scan rows QR to Sheets writes, and totals each student's trips and minutes for today, the last 7 days and all time.
Is there a free digital hall pass for one classroom?+
A paper sign-out sheet and a Google Form cost nothing. Some hall pass apps have a free single-teacher plan too: Hallwise says it is "Free for one teacher" (read 12 October 2026). QR to Sheets is a scan log rather than a live timer: free for 300 scans, then $7 per scanning phone per month.
Why does the log say No back scan, or swap Out and Back?+
With one scanner link, the QR to Sheets log counts each student's scans that day: odd is Out, even is Back. A missed scan swaps every later Out and Back that day for that student. Delete the extra row in the Scans tab or type the missing one, or use two links named Out and Back, which needs Premium.
What if a card is scanned twice by accident?+
A second scan of the same card within a minute shows as Repeat scan, ignored, and does not count as a trip. QR to Sheets still writes both rows to the Scans tab, so nothing is hidden from you.
Does a hall pass scan prove where the student went?+
No. A QR to Sheets scan records that a card was scanned and when. It does not record the destination or who was holding the card. Keep the paper sheet's Destination column, or a form, if you need the destination.
Taking the register too? The free attendance sheet generator uses the same class list and the same cards. Every free tool is on the free tools page.
Guides for scanning in and out
- Check in / check out with QR codes and Google SheetsA check in / check out QR code for people or equipment: two scans, one Google Sheet, and one formula that lists who or what is still out. Free to build.Read the guide
- QR check-in kiosk on a shared tablet or phoneOne tablet at the door, everyone scanning, one billed device. How to set up a shared QR check-in station for Google Sheets, and what it cannot tell you.Read the guide
- Daily classroom attendance for teachers, with QR codes and Google SheetsHow a teacher takes daily class attendance with QR codes: print one card per student, scan the room from your phone, read absences in Google Sheets.Read the guide
- How to run after-school sign-in and sign-out with QR codes and Google SheetsReplace the paper after-school sign-in and sign-out sheet: a QR card per child, a staff phone at the door, and a live list of who is still here.Read the guide