There are about 30 major barcode formats that are commonly used today based on linear numeric, linear alpha-numeric and 2 dimensional designs. Each of these major formats has seen adoption in particular applications that can take advantage of their unique quantities.

Some of the common types are:

1. Code 39- is a common barcode type used for various labels such as name, badges, inventory and industrial applications.
2. Code 128- is a high density linear barcode symbolically defined in ISO/IEC 15417:2017. It is used for numeric and alpha numeric barcodes only.
3. Interleaved 2 of 5- is a continuous 2 width barcode semiology encoding digits. It is used commercially on 135 film for ITF-14 barcodes and on cartoons of some products.
4. Universal Product Code (UPC) – is a type of code printed on the retail product packaging to aid in identifying a particular item. It consists of two parts- the machine readable barcode, which is a series of unique black bars and the unique 12 digit number beneath it.
5. International Article Number (EAN) – is a standard describing a barcode semiology and a numbering system used in global trade to identify a specific retail product type in a specific packaging configuration from a specific manufacturer.
6. PDF417- is a stacked linear barcode format used in a variety of applications such as transport, identification cards and inventory management.
7. Data Matrix- is a two dimensional code consisting of black and white cells or dots arranged either in a square or rectangular pattern. The information to be stored is text or numeric data. Data size is from few bytes to 1556 bytes.

Quick Response (QR) codes- is a type of barcode that can be read easily by a digital device and which stores information as series of pixels in a square shaped grid. QR codes are frequently used to track information about products in a supply chain and often used in marketing and advertising campaigns.