Start here: scan it with your phone camera and note what happens. Nothing at all, an error, or the wrong page — each points at a different cause.
The tester below decodes your code right in your browser (the image never leaves your device), tells you whether it’s static or a redirect, and checks whether the destination still resolves.
Upload or drop a QR image. It’s decoded in your browser — the image never leaves your device; only the destination URL is checked for reachability.
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Every QR code is a grid of modules (the small squares). More encoded data means more modules, and more modules at the same physical size means each module is smaller. Below roughly 0.4mm per module, phone cameras fail.
A 140-character URL might need a 37×37 grid. The same code encoding a 20-character short link needs 21×21 — nearly half the density at the same print size.
Fix: shorten the URL before generating the code, or print it larger. Shortening is free and it’s the single most effective fix for scan reliability.
QR codes need a clear margin — 4 modules wide on all sides — with nothing in it. Designers routinely crop this to save space, or run a border right up to the pattern. Scanners then can’t find the code’s edges.
Fix: restore the 4-module margin. It must be blank; a background colour is fine, artwork is not.
Dark-on-light is required. Light-on-dark (inverted) codes fail on many scanners. So do low-contrast pairings — grey on white, navy on black, or a gradient running through the pattern.
Fix: keep at least a 4:1 contrast ratio, dark pattern on light background. Coloured codes work if the contrast holds.
Scuffing, folds, moisture, gloss varnish reflecting light back at the camera, or heavy curvature on a bottle or can. Error correction tolerates some loss — level H handles about 30% — but not the loss of a corner marker.
Fix: use error-correction level Q or H for anything printed, and keep codes off high-curvature and high-gloss surfaces. Details in QR codes on packaging.
A logo in the centre is fine within limits. Push past roughly 30% coverage, or place it over a corner marker, and the code stops decoding.
Fix: keep the logo central, under 30% of the area, and use level H error correction to buy headroom.
The code works exactly as designed and delivers the user to a 404. If the code encodes the final URL directly, you can’t fix this without reprinting.
Fix now: if you control the server, add a redirect at the old URL. Fix for next time: encode a short link so the destination stays editable. See dynamic QR codes.
Many QR generators route codes through their own domain and stop honouring the redirect when a subscription lapses or a free trial ends. The pattern is intact; the company disabled the hop.
Fix: check whether codes expire on your platform, and use a provider that doesn’t gate redirects.
goo.gl and Firebase Dynamic Links both stopped serving in August 2025, breaking every code built on them simultaneously. If your code encodes a third-party short domain, it depends on that company continuing to exist.
Fix: use your own domain for anything printed, on a shortener you control.
Most services delete unclaimed anonymous links to control abuse — ours after 30 days. Claim links with a free account before printing.
Generate a code free — every design is machine-verified as scannable before download.
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A dynamic QR code is just a QR pointing at a short link you can edit. Change the destination after printing, track every scan — and skip the premium upsell.
See why teams use in.bio to create, manage, track, and scale links across campaigns, products, and workspaces.