QR Code Generator: Free, No Sign-Up, No Expiration (and How to Prove It)

Step by step

1. 1 Open the free QR code generator. There is no sign-up screen; you start on the generator.
2. 2 Pick what the code should do (website, Wi-Fi, UPI, contact card, WhatsApp and more) and type or paste your details.
3. 3 Point your phone camera at the live preview on your screen and check the address it shows. It should be your own link, exactly as you typed it.
4. 4 Design it if you like: colours, module shape, a frame with a label, or your logo. Keep the code dark on a light background.
5. 5 Download SVG or PDF for print, or PNG for screens and social posts.
6. 6 Print one copy at the real size and scan it from arm's length with two different phones before you print the rest.

Why a QR code can't expire on its own

A QR code is ink on paper, or pixels on a screen. The pattern encodes some text, usually a web address, and a phone camera turns that pattern back into text. There is no clock inside it, no licence and no connection to the site that made it. A code printed in 2015 still scans today if the address in it still works.

So when people say a QR code "expired", what actually stopped working is something the code points to. With free generators, that is usually a redirect link the generator owns.

Where expiring codes come from

Many generators make dynamic codes by default. A dynamic code does not hold your link. It holds a short link on the generator's own domain, and their server forwards each scan to your page. That design is genuinely useful: you can change the destination later and count scans.

It also means the code only works while that company keeps your redirect switched on. When a free trial ends, a plan lapses or the service closes, the redirect can stop, and every flyer, menu card and box carrying that code stops with it. This is also why so many generators ask you to sign up before you download anything: the account is what the redirect, and the bill, are attached to.

A static code skips the middleman. Your link is written into the pattern, so a scan goes straight from the phone to your page. Nobody has anything to switch off. Static vs dynamic, explained.

The 10-second test: can this code be switched off?

You don't need to trust any generator's marketing, including ours. Before you download, or with any code you already have, point your phone camera at it and read the address in the pop-up before you tap it.

On a computer you can do the same check on a downloaded image: open it in Google Lens or scan it on screen with your phone. If you are not sure which kind of code you printed years ago, this is the quickest way to find out.

The code won't expire. The thing inside it can.

This is the part most "no expiration" pages leave out. A static code is permanent, but it is only as permanent as what you put in it. These are the real reasons printed codes stop working, and how to avoid each one:

• The page moved or was deleted. A site redesign changes /menu to /our-menu and every printed code now opens a 404 page. Fix: pick a short, plain address you will keep, and if you ever move the page, add a redirect from the old address.
• The domain lapsed. If the domain is not renewed, every code that points to it dies, and someone else can buy the domain later. Fix: turn on auto-renew for any domain printed on packaging or signs.
• A shared file lost its permissions. Google Drive and Dropbox links break when the file is deleted, moved to another account or set back to private. Fix: use "Anyone with the link can view", keep the file in an account the business owns, or host the PDF on your own website.
• A link shortener sits in the middle. Putting a bit.ly-style link inside a static code quietly turns it back into a code that depends on someone else's service. Fix: use the full address unless you need the shortener's features.
• The Wi-Fi password changed. A Wi-Fi QR code stores the password itself, so a new password needs a new code. Make a fresh one with the Wi-Fi QR generator.
• The phone number or UPI ID changed. Contact-card and UPI payment codes carry the details directly. When they change, reprint.
• It was printed badly. Too small, low contrast, glossy lamination that catches light, or a logo covering too much of the pattern. These look like "expired" codes to the person scanning. Our print size guide has the numbers.

The own-domain trick: editable without anyone's permission

Want to change what a printed code opens later, but not depend on a QR company? Make a static code that points to a page on your own website, such as yourcafe.com/menu, and simply update that page whenever things change. The code never changes; the page does.

If you want the code to jump somewhere else entirely, most hosts and site builders let you set up a redirect. Point yourshop.com/qr to wherever you like today, and change it next year. You get the main benefit of a dynamic code, and the only thing to keep paying for is a domain you already own.

Static or dynamic? Decide by what you're printing

Before you print 500 copies

1. Scan the preview and confirm the address is yours, character for character.
2. Open the link on mobile data, not office Wi-Fi, to check it works for strangers.
3. Print one copy at the final size and scan it from the distance people will stand.
4. Try two phones, one Android and one iPhone if you can.
5. Keep the SVG or PDF file so you can reprint at any size without blur.
6. Write down where the link points and when the domain renews. Future you will thank you.

When signing up is worth it

An account is not a trap in itself. It is how a service remembers which redirect belongs to you. Sign up when you genuinely need to change a printed code's destination without touching your own website, or when scan counts matter, for example to compare two posters.

On MakeMyQROnline, dynamic codes are free with a Google sign-in, with no trial and no scan limit, and you can edit them after printing. The honest caveat applies to us as much as anyone: a dynamic code depends on its provider staying online. If that matters for something printed in thousands, use a static code with the own-domain trick above.

Prefer to skip the website too? The free MakeMyQR Chrome extension makes static codes for the page you are on, works offline and has no account at all.

Choosing a generator?

If you are comparing tools rather than making a code right now, our 7-point checklist for a free QR code generator with no expiry covers trials, scan limits, watermarks and print files.

Frequently asked questions