UPC-E Barcode Generator
Create compressed UPC-E barcodes for very small packages.
What is UPC-E?
UPC-E is the compressed form of UPC-A. Where UPC-A prints twelve digits across roughly 37 mm, UPC-E squeezes the same product identity into six digits and about half the width, by dropping runs of zeros that can be restored mathematically. It exists for packages too small for a full UPC-A — single-serve drinks, cosmetics, sweets.
How the compression works
Only UPC-A numbers with the right pattern of zeros can be compressed. The last of the six digits acts as a code for where the zeros were: 0, 1 and 2 restore a run in the manufacturer field, 3 and 4 restore different runs, and 5 to 9 place a single product digit at the end. This tool expands whatever you enter and shows you the full UPC-A it represents, so you can confirm it matches the number you registered.
What to enter
Type the six compressed digits and number system 0 is assumed, or seven digits to choose number system 0 or 1, or all eight to have the check digit verified rather than calculated. If the check digit is wrong, the tool tells you the correct one and offers to apply it.
Retail reality check
Retailers register the UPC-A number, not the UPC-E form. The barcode on the shelf may be UPC-E, but the twelve-digit UPC-A is what appears in the catalogue, in EDI messages and in your supplier's system. Always keep both, and check the expansion this tool shows matches your records.
Printing
Small symbols are unforgiving. Keep the X-dimension inside the range your trading partner specifies, leave the quiet zones intact on both sides, and print dark bars on a light background — never on foil or a busy pattern. Use the barcode size calculator to check the X-dimension your press can hold.
Limitations
Not every UPC-A can become a UPC-E. If the zeros are not in a compressible pattern, the number simply has no UPC-E form, and no tool can create one. Generating a symbol here does not register a GTIN — that comes from GS1.
Frequently asked questions
Which UPC-A numbers can be compressed?
Only those with specific runs of zeros in the manufacturer and product fields. Enter your UPC-A digits and if no UPC-E exists, the tool says so rather than inventing one.
Do I register the UPC-E or the UPC-A?
The UPC-A. UPC-E is only a printed short form of that same number.
What is the number system digit?
The leading digit, 0 or 1, that identifies the numbering scheme. Most retail products use 0.
Is UPC-E scannable everywhere UPC-A is?
Retail point-of-sale scanners handle it, and expand it back to UPC-A internally. Some older industrial scanners need it enabled explicitly.
Curious how we build and check these codes? Read our methodology, and the disclaimer on what a generated barcode image is and is not.