Short answer: no, a QR code itself does not expire. The pattern of black and white squares is just a way of encoding data. It doesn't have a clock, a server connection, or a subscription attached to it. Once it's generated, it's a static image, and static images don't go bad. But that's not quite the whole story, and the exceptions are worth understanding before you print one somewhere permanent.
Why a static QR code doesn't expire
A QR code made with a free tool like this one is a static code: whatever you typed in (a link, a WiFi password, a contact card) is encoded directly into the code's pattern. There's no third-party server involved in reading it. A scanner reads the pattern and reconstructs the original data on the spot, the same way it would have on day one. See static vs. dynamic QR codes for the full breakdown of how this differs from the "dynamic" codes some paid services sell, which route through a redirect link that can be switched off.
What actually can stop a QR code from working
If a QR code you made months or years ago suddenly "stops working," the code itself almost never changed. One of these did instead:
- The destination went away. If the code encodes a link, scanning it still works fine, but the phone just lands on a broken page if that website, product listing, or menu link was taken down or moved. This is by far the most common cause, and it's not really the QR code "expiring"; it's the page behind it disappearing.
- A domain lapsed. If the link points to a domain that wasn't renewed, the whole site behind it goes dark, taking every QR code pointing to it down with it.
- It was a dynamic code on a service that shut down or stopped being paid for. As covered in the static vs. dynamic guide, this is the one real case where a QR code can go from working to broken with the printed image unchanged.
- The physical copy degraded. A faded, torn, or heavily scratched printout can become unscannable. This isn't the code "expiring" either, just ordinary wear on the material it's printed on.
How to make a QR code that keeps working
- Point it at a link you control. Your own website or a page you can keep renewing beats a third-party listing you don't control.
- Keep your domain renewed if the code points to your own site, set it to auto-renew if your registrar supports it.
- Prefer static over dynamic for anything you want to last indefinitely without ongoing payment, unless you specifically need scan analytics or the ability to redirect the code elsewhere later.
- Print at a reasonable size and protect it. Laminate or seal codes that will be handled often or exposed to weather.
- Use high error correction, so minor wear, smudging, or a logo in the center doesn't stop it from scanning. Every code from this tool uses the highest error-correction level for exactly this reason.
The short version
A QR code generated here has no expiration date, no subscription, and no third-party service that can quietly switch it off. What breaks a QR code in practice is almost always the destination behind it, not the code. Keep the link alive, and the code stays scannable indefinitely. Build one in our custom QR code generator →