Free tool · no account
GTIN checker — can your barcode carry a passport?
Paste any GTIN, EAN or UPC. This checks the format and check digit — and the thing most tools miss:
whether it is an in-store number that would make your Digital Product Passport
unresolvable to everyone else.
Runs entirely in your browser · nothing is sent to a server or stored
What this tool checks — and what it can't
A valid check digit proves a number is well formed. It does not prove the number is
licensed to you. Those are different questions, and only the second one determines whether
your passport survives contact with a customs officer.
| Question | Answered here? | How |
| Is the format valid (8/12/13/14 digits)? | Yes | Length + digits |
| Is the check digit correct? | Yes | GS1 modulo-10 |
| Is it an in-store / restricted number? | Yes | Reserved prefix ranges |
| Is it licensed to your company? | No | Needs a GS1 registry lookup |
That last row is the one that bites. If you need a passport built on identifiers that hold up —
GS1 Digital Link resolution, the QR, and the registry filing —
run the free readiness check
or read how GS1 Digital Link carries a DPP.
GTIN, EAN, UPC — what the number actually is
GTIN stands for Global Trade Item Number, and it is the umbrella term. EAN and UPC
are not different systems; they are older names for particular lengths of the same number. That is why a
checker that accepts "EAN" and one that accepts "GTIN" are doing the same arithmetic.
- GTIN-13 — 13 digits, the standard retail number in Europe. Formerly EAN-13.
- GTIN-12 — 12 digits, the North American retail number. Formerly UPC-A.
- GTIN-8 — 8 digits, for packaging too small to carry a full barcode. Formerly EAN-8.
- GTIN-14 — 14 digits, used for trade units and cases rather than the consumer item. It wraps a
GTIN-13 with an indicator digit describing the packaging level.
For a product passport the relevant number is almost always the
GTIN-13 on the consumer item, because that is the number a scanner in the field will read.
How the check digit works
Every GTIN ends in a check digit derived from the digits before it, using a
modulo-10 calculation. It exists to catch mistyped and misread numbers, and it is the only part of a GTIN you can
validate offline — which is exactly what the tool above does.
- Take the number without its final digit.
- Working from the right, multiply alternate digits by 3 and 1.
- Add the results together.
- The check digit is whatever takes that sum up to the next multiple of 10 (and 0 if the sum is already a
multiple of 10).
Worked example on 400638133393: the alternating sum comes to 89,
the next multiple of ten is 90, so the check digit is 1 and the full GTIN-13 is
4006381333931. A single transposed pair almost always breaks this, which is why a failed check digit
usually means a typo rather than a fake number.
The prefixes that quietly break a passport
Some ranges are reserved for numbers that were never meant to leave a
building. They pass the check digit perfectly, which is what makes them dangerous: nothing looks wrong until the
identifier has to resolve for someone outside your company.
- 020–029, 040–049 and 200–299 — restricted circulation. Widely used for in-store items,
variable-weight goods, warehouse labels and internal SKUs.
- 977, 978, 979 — serials and publications (ISSN, ISBN, ISMN) rather than trade items.
- 981–984, 99 — coupons and vouchers.
A restricted number is meaningful only inside the organisation that assigned
it. Build a product passport on one and the barcode still scans, but the identifier means nothing to a customs
officer, a recycler or a customer — which defeats the purpose of having a passport at all. The tool above flags
these explicitly.
From a valid GTIN to a working passport
A digital product passport is reached through a data carrier on the product,
and in practice that carrier is a GS1 Digital Link QR or Data Matrix built around your GTIN. Three things have to
be true, and only the first is checkable here:
- The number is well formed. Correct length, correct check digit, not a restricted prefix.
- The number is licensed to you. Issued through your national GS1 Member Organisation against
your company prefix. A borrowed or invented number will pass every offline check and still fail in the field.
- The number resolves. Scanning it has to return the passport, with the right access tier for
whoever is scanning, for the product's regulated lifetime — up to 15 years for batteries.
If you are working towards the battery passport deadline of
18 February 2027, identifiers are the cheapest thing to get right early and one of the more
expensive to correct once labels are printed. See
how GS1 Digital Link carries a DPP, or check what else your
products need with the free readiness check.
Frequently asked questions
What is a GTIN check digit?
The final digit of a GTIN is calculated from the preceding digits using the GS1 modulo-10 algorithm. If it does not match, the number has been mistyped or fabricated and no scanner will treat it as valid.
Can I use an in-store barcode for a Digital Product Passport?
No. Numbers in the restricted-circulation ranges (prefixes 02, 04 and the 2 family) are assigned inside a single company or store. They are not globally unique and are not licensed to anyone, so a passport published against one cannot be resolved reliably by customs, recyclers or consumers.
Does a valid check digit mean I own the GTIN?
No. A valid check digit only proves the number is well formed. Confirming that a GTIN is licensed to your company requires a lookup against the GS1 registry, which is a credentialled service provided through your national GS1 Member Organisation.
Where do I get a real GTIN?
From your national GS1 Member Organisation, which licenses a GS1 Company Prefix to your business. Numbers bought from third-party barcode resellers are not licensed to you and typically fail verification checks.
Is this a GTIN lookup, or just a check?
It is a check, not a lookup. It validates the format and the check digit of the number you paste, entirely in your browser — it does not query GS1 or any product database, so it cannot tell you who owns a number or which product it belongs to.
Can I run an EAN check and a UPC check with the same tool?
Yes. EAN-13, UPC-A, EAN-8 and GTIN-14 all use the same modulo-10 check digit, so one EAN check covers them all. A UPC-A is simply a GTIN-13 with a leading zero.
More free tools