Can a tag connect to a hidden network?
The Wi-Fi record format has a field for it and support varies by device, so the answer is test yours. The deeper point is that hiding a network buys almost no security and costs exactly this kind of friction, repeatedly.
The record has a field
The Wi-Fi record written to a tag can indicate that a network does not broadcast its name, alongside the name, the password and the security type.
Whether a device acts on that indication correctly is a matter of implementation rather than of the format, and it varies.
So this is one of the cases where the specification permitting something is not the same as it working on the phone in front of you.
Test rather than assume
Write the tag, and test it on a phone that has never joined the network, which is the only device that can test this.
Your own phone remembers the network and will join whether or not the tag works, which makes it useless as a test and is the commonest reason people believe it works.
Test on both platforms if guests use both, remembering that a Wi-Fi record is not acted on the same way by an iPhone in any case.
If it fails, the network being hidden is the first thing to suspect and the easiest to change.
What hiding actually buys
Very little. A network that does not broadcast its name is still visible to anyone looking properly, because connected devices reveal it in ordinary traffic.
It is not a security measure in any meaningful sense, and it is widely described as one.
What it does buy is friction: for guests, for new devices, for anything automated, and for you every time something needs to join.
It also makes your devices announce the network name as they look for it elsewhere, which is a privacy cost rather than a benefit.
The better answer
Stop hiding it. Use a strong password on a visible network, which is what actually protects it.
The tag then works predictably, guests join without help, and the friction disappears.
If the network must stay hidden for a reason outside this question, expect to type it manually and treat the tag as a convenience that may not apply.
And do not let a tag be the reason to change your network configuration. Decide the network first, on its own merits, and fit the tag to it.
Frequently asked questions
Does the Wi-Fi record support hidden networks?
The format has a field for it and device behaviour varies. Test on a phone that has never joined the network.
Why does it work on my phone?
Because your phone already knows the network and will join regardless. Only a device that has never joined can test this.
Is hiding a network more secure?
Not meaningfully. Connected devices reveal the name in ordinary traffic, and hiding it mainly adds friction.
What should I do instead?
Use a visible network with a strong password. That is what protects it, and everything else becomes predictable.