Do QR codes ever expire?
A QR code that holds its data itself, like those from QR by Zaweba, never expires. Only the page it points to can disappear. Here's the difference.
Codes made in QR by Zaweba do not expire. The link, text or details are stored in the pattern of the code itself, so there is nothing on a server to run out. The only thing that can stop it being useful is the thing it points to: if the web page it links to is taken down, the code still scans, but leads nowhere.
When people find a code that has expired, it is almost always a different kind of code, made a different way.
Static and dynamic codes
There are two ways to make a QR code. A static code holds your information directly. Scan a static web address code and the phone reads your actual address and goes there. Scan a static Wi-Fi code and it reads your network details and joins.
A dynamic code holds a short link belonging to whichever online service made it. Scanning sends the phone to that service first, which then forwards it to your page. The service can change the destination later or count scans, which is why some people choose them. But the code only works as long as the service keeps forwarding. If a subscription lapses, a free period ends or the company closes, every printed copy of that code stops working at once.
QR by Zaweba makes static codes. That's why the answer here is a straightforward no.
What can still go wrong
A static code can't expire, but it can point at something that changes. A web address code is only as lasting as the page. If a business moves its menu to a new address, codes linking to the old one show an error page. A phone call code is only as good as the number, and a Wi-Fi code stops joining the network if you change the password.
So the lasting choice is about what you put in the code. Link to a page you control and intend to keep, such as your home page or a menu page you update in place, rather than to a file with a date in its name. Use a phone number you will keep. When you change your Wi-Fi password, make a new Wi-Fi code at the same time.
Making a code that lasts
Open QR by Zaweba and pick the kind of code: web address, Wi-Fi network, contact card, email, phone call, text message, map location or plain text. Fill in the boxes. The preview reads the code back on every change and says Checked: it reads back exactly, or tells you what would stop it scanning.
Then think about the physical copy, which wears out long before the code does. For a sign that will be outside, a higher error correction level such as Q or H lets the code scan even when part of it is scratched or dirty. Keep a clear margin round it and use dark on light colours. Save as SVG or PDF for a sign maker, since both print at exactly the size you set.
Keeping your own copy
Save the file somewhere safe, with a name that says what it holds. If the poster gets damaged you can print the same code again, and because it is static, the new copy is identical to the old one and works the same way.
QR by Zaweba is free software on your own PC with no account, so there is also no online library of codes that could vanish. Your saved PNG, SVG and PDF files are the codes, for as long as you keep them.
