Guide

Why did my QR code stop working?

You printed it. It worked. Now someone scans it and gets an error page, an advert, or a screen asking the owner to "upgrade to reactivate this code". The menus, flyers or invitations are already out in the world.

This is one of the most common problems with QR codes, and it almost always has the same cause.

The short answer

Your code probably doesn't point at your website. It points at the company that made it.

Most online QR generators make what's called a dynamic code. Instead of putting your web address inside the pattern of squares, they put their own short link in there. When someone scans it, the phone goes to that company's server first, and the server forwards it on to your page.

That's what lets you change where the code goes later without reprinting it. It's also what lets the company switch it off. When a free trial ends, or a monthly plan lapses, the forwarding stops, and every copy you ever printed stops with it.

The printed squares haven't changed. Nothing is wrong with your printer or the person's phone. The server at the other end has just stopped passing people along.

How to check if this is what happened

1. Open your phone's camera and point it at the code, but don't tap the link. Most phones show a small preview of the address before opening it.
2. Look at the domain in that preview.
   • If it's your own website (for example yourrestaurant.com/menu), the code is static. The address is printed into the squares. A static code can't expire; if it fails, the problem is the page it points to (a moved or deleted page on your own site).
   • If it's a short link on a domain you don't recognise or don't own, the code is dynamic, and that company controls whether it works.
3. Scan it and see where you land. A page saying the code is "inactive", "paused", "expired", or asking the owner to log in or upgrade confirms it.

Why it's usually a surprise

The pattern is almost always the same:

• Making the code is free and takes a minute, so nobody looks at the pricing page.
• A short trial begins, often 7 to 14 days, sometimes for a dollar or two.
• The trial quietly turns into a subscription, commonly somewhere around $19 to $49 a month.
• You cancel the charge you didn't expect, or your card changes, and the code goes dark.

By then the code has usually been printed, and the only choices on offer are to pay or to reprint.

What you can do now

Option 1: Pay to reactivate it. If the code is on something expensive to replace (signage, packaging, a large print run), paying to switch it back on may genuinely be the cheapest fix in the short term. Just know that it stays switched on only for as long as you keep paying.

Option 2: Replace it with a code that can't be held hostage. If you're reprinting anyway, this is the moment to choose a code that won't do this again:

• If the destination will never change, use a static code. Plenty of free tools make them, and they genuinely never expire because there's no server in the middle. You don't need to pay anyone for this.
• If you might ever need to change where it points (a new menu, a new booking link, a new PDF), you need a dynamic code, and the question becomes whether the company behind it can switch it off when you stop paying.

Option 3: Get the old code redirected. You usually can't. The short link belongs to the company that issued it, not to you. It's worth checking your account in case you can point the code somewhere before it lapses, but once it's gone, it's gone.

How to avoid this next time

Before you print any QR code, ask three questions:

1. Whose domain is inside the code? If it isn't yours, someone else controls it.
2. What happens if I stop paying? Look for this in plain words. If you can't find it, assume the code stops.
3. Is the price a subscription? A monthly fee for a code that sits on a printed menu for five years adds up to hundreds of dollars.

Where we fit in

We make dynamic codes too, because being able to change a printed code is genuinely useful. The difference is how you pay for it: $25, once. No trial, no plan, and nothing that renews. Your first change is free; later changes to where it points are $5 each, charged only when you ask for one. There is no setting that switches your code off because a payment stopped, because there are no payments to stop.

To be straightforward about it: any dynamic code, ours included, depends on the company behind it keeping its server running. We think the answer to that is a company that isn't paid to turn codes off.

See how it works → · Try our demo code

Questions

More guides: A QR code without a subscription · A menu QR code that won't stop working