Free QR code checker
Can this QR code be switched off?
Photo, screenshot or camera: see whether the code runs through a service that can turn it off.
or drop an image here, or paste a screenshot (Ctrl+V).
Your image is decoded in your browser. Nothing is uploaded. The last result is kept only in this browser so the fix step can reuse it.
The five answers
- Can be switched off by a QR vendor
- The link is on a QR vendor's redirect domain. The vendor forwards every scan, so the code works only while the vendor keeps forwarding it for that account.
- Depends on a link shortener
- The link is on a short-link service. It works while the short link exists and forwards; its owner can change or remove it.
- Unknown: looks like a redirect we can't identify
- The domain is not on our list but the link is built like a redirect (a short random path, a /qr/ folder, a qr. prefix). It may be a vendor on a custom domain.
- Points straight to a website
- No known QR vendor or shortener in the link: it opens the site itself and works as long as that page exists.
- Can't expire: there is no link to switch off
- Wi-Fi, contact card, phone number, e-mail, text: the content is in the pattern, so there is nothing to switch off.
How the check works, and what it can't see
Your browser decodes the image (with its built-in barcode reader where it has one, otherwise the open-source jsQR library) and reads the text inside the code. If it is a web link, its domain is compared with a list of 12 QR code vendors and 9 link shorteners. Each domain is on the list only because the vendor's own page ties it to the vendor; every entry links that page, read 2026-09-30. See the full list.
What no website can tell you: whether the code works today, where it finally lands and when a trial or plan ends. We never open the link, and browsers do not let a page follow a redirect to another site and read where it goes. A vendor running on a custom domain looks like any other site. Scan the printed code with your phone to see where it lands today.
Checks the link inside a QR code against a list of known redirect services. It cannot tell whether a code works today or when a plan ends. Vendor details come from each vendor's own help pages; check your account with them. Not affiliated with any QR code generator.
The tools
Codes already printed? Pro makes the cover stickers.
A sticker sheet on A4 or US Letter sized from the old code, the new code as SVG, table-tent and card pages, a sizing workbook and the redirect rule for your own editable link.
Frequently asked questions
- Is my QR code dynamic or static?
- Look at the link inside it. A dynamic code holds a short link on the QR vendor's own domain (the vendor forwards the scan to your page); a static code holds your page's address itself. The checker reads the link and names the vendor when its domain is on our list.
- How do I know if my QR code will expire?
- A static code has no expiry date: it works as long as the page it opens exists. A dynamic code has no date inside it either, but the vendor can stop forwarding it, for example when a free trial ends or a plan lapses. The date is in your account with the vendor, not in the code.
- Can I check a QR code from an image or screenshot?
- Yes. Pick or drop a photo or screenshot, or paste it with Ctrl+V. The image is decoded in your browser and never uploaded.
- Can I check a QR code without scanning it with my phone?
- Yes, from a photo or screenshot on this page. To see where the code lands today you still need to scan it, because a website cannot follow the redirect for you.
- Does the checker open the link?
- No. It only reads the text inside the code and compares the domain with the list. Nothing is sent anywhere, and the link is not visited.
- My code's domain is not on the list. Is it safe forever?
- Not necessarily. Some QR vendors let customers use their own domain, and those links look like any other website. If you made the code on a QR generator, check that account.
Guides
- Is my QR code static or dynamic? How to tell
Read the link inside the code: a dynamic code holds a short link on a QR vendor's domain. The vendor domains we list, each with the vendor's own page.
- Why did my QR code stop working after the free trial?
Dynamic codes run through the vendor's server, and several vendors say trial codes are deactivated or paused when the trial ends. Their own words, and what to do.
- Do QR codes expire?
A QR code has no expiry date inside it. Static codes work as long as the content is valid; dynamic codes work as long as the vendor forwards them. By content type.