UPC-E

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A zero-suppressed compact version of UPC-A designed for small retail items where the full-size barcode cannot fit. UPC-E compresses a 12-digit UPC-A into an 8-digit representation by removing specific patterns of trailing zeros from the manufacturer or item number.


  




  

    

    

      

        
UPC-E

        
        1D Linear
        
      

      
      
      

        Type
        1D Linear
      

      
      

      

        Data Length
        8 digits
      

      
      

      

        Character Set
        0-9
      

      
      

      

        Year
        1974
      

      
    

  






  



  

  




  
Related Tools

  

    
    
      
      
      
      

        
UPC-A / UPC-E Converter

        
Convert between UPC-A (12-digit) and UPC-E (8-digit zero-suppressed) formats. Visualizes the zero-suppression algorithm and shows which UPC-A codes are eligible …

      

    
    
  





  




  
Related Guides

  

    
    
      
      
      
      

        
Barcode Data Capacity: How Much Can Each Format Store?

        
A comparative reference of data capacity across 30 barcode symbologies — from 8-digit UPC-E to 7,089-character QR codes.

      

    
    
    
      
      
      
      

        
UPC-A & UPC-E: North American Product Barcodes

        
Technical guide to UPC-A and its zero-suppressed companion UPC-E — encoding rules, conversion algorithms, and the UPC-to-EAN migration.

      

    
    
  





  




  
Related Terms

  

    
    
      UPC-E
    
    
  





  



  



  









  
Frequently Asked Questions

  
  

    What is a UPC-E barcode?
    
UPC-E is the 8-digit zero-suppressed variant of UPC-A, designed for small retail packages where a 12-digit barcode does not fit.

  

  
  

    How is UPC-E different from UPC-A?
    
UPC-E compresses UPC-A by removing specific zero patterns, reducing it from 12 to 8 characters. All retail scanners expand it back to UPC-A automatically.

  

  
  

    Can I use UPC-E instead of UPC-A on any product?
    
No. Only UPC-A codes with eligible zero patterns can be compressed to UPC-E. Use the UPC converter to check whether your code qualifies.