The short answer: a QR code itself never expires. The pattern of dots is just data — like text printed on paper, it has no expiry date, no battery, and no subscription. A QR code generated in 1999 still scans today.
The long answer: many QR codes do stop working, and part of the QR industry profits from the confusion. Whether yours keeps working depends on one question — is it static or dynamic?
Static QR codes cannot expire
A static QR code encodes your content — a URL, a WiFi password, a contact card — directly into the dot pattern, following the ISO/IEC 18004 standard. The phone decodes the data at scan time. No server sits between the scan and the result.
That means there is nothing to expire. As long as the printed code is physically readable, it works. If it encodes a URL, the only way it 'breaks' is if the destination website itself goes offline — and that is under your control, not a QR vendor's.
Dynamic QR codes expire when the provider says so
A dynamic QR code does not contain your destination. It contains a short link on the provider's domain — something like qrco.de/abc123 — and the provider's server redirects each scanner to your real URL. That indirection is what makes a dynamic code editable and trackable.
It is also a kill switch. When a trial lapses, a card payment fails, or the provider shuts down, the redirect stops answering and every printed code goes dead — even though the dots on the paper are perfectly intact. Many 'free' QR generators monetize exactly this way: the code is free to make, then deactivates after a 14-day trial unless you subscribe.
How to check whether your QR code will expire
Scan it and look at the URL before tapping through. If the address is your actual destination, the code is static and permanent. If it is a domain you don't recognize — qrco.de, qr1.be, scn.by, or any short-link domain — the code is dynamic, and it lives only as long as the account behind it.
Every code generated on this site is static. We could not deactivate your QR even if we wanted to: there is no server in the loop, no account, and nothing to lapse.
Printed codes can still wear out physically
Ink fades, laminate peels, stickers scratch. QR codes tolerate a surprising amount of this: the ISO/IEC 18004 error-correction levels restore up to 7% (L), 15% (M), 25% (Q), or 30% (H) of damaged data.
For codes that live outdoors or get handled — menus, parking signage, equipment labels — generate at error-correction level Q or H, print dark-on-light at a reasonable size, and laminate. A code printed that way outlasts the surface it's stuck to.
Frequently asked questions
- Can an expired dynamic QR code be revived?
- Sometimes. If the provider still exists and you resubscribe, the short link usually starts redirecting again. If the provider shut down, the domain encoded in your dots is gone and the printed code is permanently dead. Reprinting with a static code is the only fix.
- Do static QR codes stop working if my website changes?
- The QR keeps pointing at the exact URL you encoded. If that page moves, add a redirect on your own domain from the old path to the new one. You control it, it costs nothing, and nobody can price-gate it.
- How long do printed QR codes physically last?
- As long as the print medium. Laminated indoor signage lasts decades. Direct-sun outdoor prints fade in one to three years depending on ink — the QR fails when contrast drops, not on any schedule. Error-correction level H buys the most tolerance.
Related tools
- URL QR code generator — Generate a static URL QR that never expires.
- Why this site is free — How we sustain a generator with no paid tier on codes.
- QR code scanner — Decode any QR from an image to see what it really contains.