MicroURLWhy QR codes stop working
A QR code on a menu, flyer or sign that suddenly opens an error or a sign-up page almost always has one of four causes. Three of them come from the service the code was made with, not the code itself.
The four usual causes
The free trial ended
Many QR services make “dynamic” codes that point to their own short link, then switch that link off when the trial or plan ends. One of the biggest says so itself: the codes deactivate automatically when the trial period finishes.
The subscription lapsed or hit a limit
The same services keep the redirect running only while you pay, and some pause codes when scans go over the plan’s limit until the next billing cycle.
The QR service shut down
Smaller QR and short-link services close, sometimes after selling lifetime deals. When they go, every code and short link on their domain stops at once, with no one left to switch them back on.
The page it points to moved
A “static” code has the web address baked into the pattern. It never expires, but if that page moves or the website is rebuilt, every printed copy points at a dead page.
Trial and plan behavior from QR Code Generator’s own explainer, checked 21 October 2026.
How to tell whether your code will stop
Our free QR code checker does this for you: paste the link your code opens and it follows it.
Scan it with your phone and look at the web address it opens before the page loads. If it starts with the QR service’s own short domain rather than your website, the code depends on that service staying paid. If it opens your website directly, it’s a static code: it won’t expire, but it breaks if that page ever moves.
What you can fix, and what you can’t
A code already printed on someone else’s domain can only be revived by that service. Nobody else can take over their short links. If the reactivation price isn’t worth it, the next print run is the time to change.
The exception: codes on a domain you own. If the old service let you use your own domain (say, go.yourbusiness.com) and the codes open links on it, you can bring every printed code back, even if that service is gone:
- Add the same domain in MicroURL (Settings, then Domains) and change its DNS record to the one we show you. See bring your own domain.
- Make a spreadsheet with each old code’s ending in a
slugcolumn and where it should go in aurlcolumn. - Import it and choose that domain for the links (bulk import). Each printed code opens its page again, and now you can change where it goes.
For the next print run, use a code that points to a short link on a domain you own, like links.yourbusiness.com. You can change where it goes any time, and because the domain is yours, no service can hold the printed copies hostage.
How MicroURL handles it
Our codes point to short links on your own domain, even on the free plan. We never switch a code off because an account went over a plan limit, and you can export every link and its scans at any time. The full no-lock-in pledge is on our trust page.