Do QR codes expire? What actually stops a code from working
Short answer: no, the squares don't expire. A QR code is just text encoded as a picture, and a picture doesn't have a date. But people ask because codes do stop working, and the reasons are worth knowing before you print.
Static codes last as long as their content
A static code stores the content itself: a web address, a WiFi login, a contact card. It works as long as that content is valid. The WiFi code fails when you change the password; the link code fails when the page moves. The code didn't expire; the thing it describes did.
Dynamic codes last as long as the redirect
A dynamic code stores a short link that redirects to your destination. That redirect runs on a server, so if the service shuts down or your plan ends, the code stops. On ScanMosaic your first three dynamic codes are free forever, paid codes keep working for 14 days after a plan ends and then show a 'paused' page until you renew; nothing is deleted.
Beware 'free' generators that quietly expire codes
Some sites make every code dynamic without saying so, then stop the redirect after a trial. Your printed menus go to an upsell page. Check two things before you print: does the code contain your own link (scan it and look), and if it's a short link, who controls it and what happens when you stop paying.
How to make a code that keeps working
- For WiFi, contacts, payments and text: use static. Free, offline, permanent.
- For printed links you may need to change: use dynamic, and keep the account.
- Point static link codes at a page on your own domain, so you can change the page without changing the code.
- Print on durable material; faded ink and scratches 'expire' more codes than servers do.