Guide
Do QR codes expire? What can stop one, and how to avoid it
A printed QR code never expires. What can stop is the address it holds. This guide explains the difference between static and dynamic codes, why so many “free” QR codes stop working after a few days, and what to do when a code you’ve already printed no longer opens.
Checked 27 October 2026
In short
- A QR code is a printed pattern: it has no expiry date. A phone reads it without asking anyone.
- A static code holds what it opens: your website’s address, your Wi‑Fi network, your contact card. No service stands in between, so none can switch it off.
- A dynamic code holds a short address at a service, which sends visitors on to your page. It works for as long as the service keeps that address on.
- Many generators offer “free” dynamic codes that are switched off when the trial ends or when the subscription stops.
- To find out which kind yours is, and whether it still opens: the QR code checker, free.
Static or dynamic: the difference
The two look the same. The difference is in what the pattern holds.
| Static code | Dynamic code | |
|---|---|---|
| What it holds | The content itself (your website’s address, Wi‑Fi, contact, text) | A short address at a service (for example qrco.de/…) |
| Can be changed after printing | No: it takes a new code | Yes, from the account at the service |
| Scans counted | No | Yes, by the service |
| Someone else can switch it off | No | Yes, the service |
| Stops working if… | …what it holds goes away (your website closes, your Wi‑Fi changes) | …the service switches the address off: a trial ends, a subscription stops, the service closes |
So a static code holding your website’s address isn’t eternal either: it works for as long as that address does. But you control it, not a service.
Why a “free” QR code stops working
Many generators near the top of search results let you make a code for free, then ask for a subscription. The code they make is dynamic: it goes through their address. When the trial ends without a subscription, they switch that address off, and the printed code opens their own page instead of yours.
This isn’t hidden: it’s in their help pages. At one of the most used, QR Code Generator (owned by Bitly), the free trial lasts 14 days. When it ends, its dynamic codes are switched off and lead to one of the service’s pages instead of their destination; its static codes keep working. Turning a code back on takes a paid plan; a new account won’t do it.
The trouble is the mismatch: a trial lasts two weeks, while a menu, a poster or a business card stays in circulation for months or years. The code gets printed before anyone finds out it depends on a subscription.
Link shorteners can also close. Google shut down its goo.gl shortener: links that hadn’t been used by the end of 2024 have stopped working since 25 August 2025. A code printed with one of those links no longer opens the page it was meant to.
My printed QR code stopped working: what can I do?
1. See what it holds
Scan it with the checker (or upload a photo): it says whether the code holds a service’s address, which service when it knows it, and what that address answers today.
2. It’s a service’s address
Only the account that made the code can turn it back on. Find that account; if you don’t know which it is, ask the service: at QR Code Generator, for example, their support can find it from the short address. Turning it back on usually takes a subscription.
3. It’s your own website’s address
You can fix the code without reprinting it: have the old address redirect to the new page (a “301 redirect”, which your host or whoever runs your website can set up).
4. You can’t get it back
Make a new code and reprint. On things already in place (shop windows, laminated menus, signs), a sticker with the new code over the old one saves redoing everything.
Choosing a QR code that lasts
- Static when the content won’t change: a Wi‑Fi network, a contact card, a stable page on your website.
- Dynamic only if you need to change it after printing (a menu that changes, a campaign) or to count scans.
- Read what happens when you stop paying, before printing. If the terms don’t say, ask in writing.
- Don’t print a code made during a free trial, unless you’re ready to pay the subscription for as long as the print is out there.
- Prefer an address on your own domain name: it belongs to you, and you can change services without reprinting.
- Test before printing, with several phones, at the real size.
What olinqs does
We make QR codes too; here are our rules, so you can compare.
- Static QR codes are free, with no account and no time limit. Nothing of ours stands between them and what they open.
- Editable links cost $10, once. There’s nothing else to pay to keep them working. Even when a monthly Pro subscription stops, they keep working.
- Nobody but you switches them off. A link stops if you pause it, delete it or give it an end date. The only exceptions: a link that breaks our rules (phishing, fraud…), or a payment that was refunded or disputed (terms).
- Your own domain name, with Pro: the printed address belongs to you.
Questions
- Do QR codes have an expiry date?
- No. The pattern holds no date. Only the address it holds can stop answering.
- Is a static QR code limited in scans?
- No. The phone reads the content straight from the pattern; no server is involved, so nothing can count or limit the scans.
- Can a dynamic code be turned into a static one?
- No: the printed code holds the service’s address, and only a new code can hold anything else.
- My dynamic code still works. Should I worry?
- Check your service’s terms for what happens if you stop paying, and note which account the code was made in.
Sources
- QR Code Generator, “What happens to my account and QR Codes when the trial expires?”: dynamic codes switched off when the trial ends, static codes kept.
- QR Code Generator, “How can I reactivate my QR Codes?”: turned back on by upgrading to a paid plan, not from a new account.
- QR Code Generator, “Why did a QR Code or link bring me to the Help Center?”: its dynamic codes go through short addresses such as qrco.de and l.ead.me.
- Google for Developers, “Google URL Shortener links will no longer be available”, updated 1 August 2025.
- olinqs terms of use, “Paid plans” and “Your links and content”.
Services’ terms change; the ones cited here were checked on the date at the top of the page.