QR code stopped working?

Don’t guess from the symptom — read the code. What it actually points at tells you exactly which failure you have, and whether printing again is even necessary.

The causes, in the order they actually happen

1. The subscription or trial lapsed. If the code is dynamic, its destination lives on the vendor's server, and the vendor's own documents describe the shutoff: QRFY deactivates codes at trial end; Egoditor's platform does the same after 14 days. Uniqode — the largest vendor in the space — concedes on its own blog that a lapsed dynamic subscription is the most common cause of unexpected code failure. If you made the code on a “free” tier in an afternoon and printed it the same week, start here.

2. A free-tier limit hit. QR Tiger's free dynamic codes go inactive after 500 scans each (its help center). A code on a busy table tent can burn through that in a season — working in March, dead by the wedding in June.

3. The destination moved. A static code to a page that was renamed or deleted fails honestly: the code still works, the page doesn't. The fix is a redirect on your own site — or, if you don't control it, a reprint with a permanent address you do control.

4. The print failed. Low contrast, a logo past the safe third, a missing quiet zone, sun-faded ink. If the code never scanned reliably from day one, this is your cause — and the replacement should be built under print guardrails, not hope.

Diagnose yours — it takes ten seconds

Will this QR code die?

Drop in a photo, a screenshot, or the code file itself. We decode it in your browser — the image never leaves your device — and tell you who holds the switch.

Drop a QR code image here or tap to choose a file

A photo of the printed piece works. Sharper is better; we would rather say “unreadable” than guess.

Then fix the class of problem, not the instance

Whatever the verdict: replace a dying code with a static one that encodes the final destination directly (the free generator does it, verified). A replacement dynamic code from the same vendor is the same accident on a new date.

Printing more than one QR code? Audit the whole run before it costs you.

The checker above judges one code. The Print Pack judges the set — and lays it out for the printer, validated.

Batch print sheets

Every code in the run on validated print-ready sheets — US Letter or A4, each cell with its label, its destination printed underneath as the human fallback, and a guaranteed 4-module quiet zone. Print from the browser or save as PDF.

Included in the $39 Print Pack

Set-level expiry audit

Drop in up to 50 code images — files or photos of the printed sheets — and get one verdict table for the whole run: permanent, dies-if-unpaid, at-risk, unreadable. With one-click verified static replacements for every code that can die.

Included in the $39 Print Pack

Saved sets, on your device

Wedding sets, menu sets, per-event sets — saved in your browser, named, reloadable next print run. No account, nothing uploaded, ever.

Included in the $39 Print Pack

$39 one-time — no subscription, because a subscription is rather the point

Get the Print Pack — $39   See exactly what's inside