Will my QR code expire?
Check any QR code in seconds: what's inside, and whether it depends on a trial or subscription that can switch it off. It's read right here on this page: nothing is uploaded.
Read on this page. Your picture and its contents are never sent anywhere.
How to tell if a QR code can expire
Every QR code is one of two kinds. Which one you have decides whether it can ever stop working.
Static: the content is in the code
A website address, Wi-Fi details or a contact card written straight into the pattern. Nothing stands in between, so there's nothing to switch off. It works as long as the content does.
Dynamic: a short link to a service
The code opens the service's own link, which forwards people on. Handy for changing the destination later, but it works only while that service, and your trial or plan, keeps it running.
The tell-tale sign
Scan it and look at the address before the page loads. If it's a QR company's or link shortener's domain instead of your own website, it's dynamic.
My printed QR code stopped working. What now?
It happens a lot: many "free" generators give dynamic codes on a 7 to 14 day trial, then switch them off unless you pay.
- Check it above. If it goes through a QR service, that's almost certainly why.
- Make a replacement that can't be switched off. Point it straight at your website or menu. It's free here, with no account.
- Print it as a sticker over the old one. Make it at least as big as the old code. Menus, posters and cards are saved without a full reprint.
- Need to change the link later, or count scans? Use a dynamic code from a service that doesn't switch printed codes off. On QR Code Spot, editable codes in QR Studio come with a paid plan, and a printed code keeps working even if the plan ends: only changing where it goes needs a plan again. Nothing is deleted.
Questions
Do QR codes expire?
A static code never does: the content is stored in the pattern itself. A dynamic code holds a short link run by a service, and stops working if that service, trial or account ends.
Why did my QR code stop working?
Most often it was a dynamic code from a free trial, and the trial ended. It can also be a website that moved, a changed Wi-Fi password, or a print that's too small, damaged or low on contrast.
Can this checker be wrong?
It recognises the big QR services and link shorteners by their addresses. A code that points to an unfamiliar address is shown as going straight there, but that address could still forward somewhere else. If in doubt, open the link and see whether the address changes.
Is my picture uploaded?
No. The code is read in your browser. Neither the picture nor what's inside it leaves this page.