Do QR Codes Expire? Link-Rot Data From Business QR Codes, 2024–2026

About 1 in 24 business QR links had broken

We checked every web address customers gave us for a business QR or NFC sign, badge, block or coaster since February 2024. 188 of the 330 distinct business links could be tested. 180 still worked, 4 of them by redirecting to the same business on another address, and 8 no longer led anywhere useful.

With only 8 failures, the rate isn't precise: a 95% confidence interval runs from about 2% to 8%. The links were young, too. Half had been engraved for less than a year when we checked, and the oldest for 2.7 years.

Where the code points makes a difference

Every Google review link we could test still worked. Link pages, sign-up forms, short links and other platform pages broke in 4 of 32 cases, against 4 of 102 for businesses' own websites. The groups are small, so treat the gap as a pointer rather than a precise rate; it fits what we saw in each case, because a deleted profile or short link fails even when the platform itself is fine.

Why the links broke

• Page removed, site still online: 5 of 8. A deleted Linktree profile, two short links that no longer exist, a removed page on a marketplace and a removed page on a business website.
• "Coming soon" placeholder: 2 of 8. The address now shows a holding page with no content.
• Domain no longer answering: 1 of 8. One website's domain didn't respond at all.

None of the broken links had been taken over by unrelated or spam content, and none of the domains we tested was up for sale.

Older links broke a little more often

Links that were a year old or more had broken in about 6% of cases, against 3% for links under a year old. With eight failures in all, that's a hint of a trend rather than a measured rate.

Four practical takeaways

1. Point the code at an address you control. A page on your own website can be kept, or redirected if it moves. A profile, form or short link on someone else's platform disappears when it's deleted.
2. Prefer a page you'll keep over a page for one campaign. Most failures were removed pages, not dead websites.
3. Use Google's own review link on review signs. Every one we tested still worked. Get it from the Get more reviews button on your Google Business Profile, as our Google reviews guide explains.
4. Scan your signs once a year. An engraved QR code can't be changed, so check the page behind it still works. An NFC tag can be rewritten with a free NFC app if your link changes.

How we tested the links

We took every web address customers pasted into an order for a business QR or NFC item between 13 February 2024 and 28 October 2026, excluding cancelled and test orders and gift items such as playlist cassettes. Each address was counted once, however many items carried it. On 29 October 2026 we fetched each one and recorded whether it showed a live page for the business. Where a fetch failed, we checked whether the domain still answered at all and, for pages deeper than the homepage, whether the homepage loaded.

For Google review links we relied on how Google responds: a link Google recognises leads to its review form (behind a sign-in step), while a code it doesn't recognise goes to the Google home page. We confirmed that with a deliberately made-up link.

A link counts as broken if the page had been removed, the address showed a placeholder, or the domain didn't respond. Redirects to the same business count as working. We couldn't test 92 links to Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and LinkedIn, which refuse automated checks, or 50 others that blocked automated visits, needed scripts to show anything, or were too long to fetch; they are left out of the percentages. This is one maker's customers, mostly small UK businesses, not a random sample of all QR codes. We publish shares only, never a customer's name or link, and the raw list has been deleted.

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How to cite it

Licence: you're free to reuse this data, including commercially, under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence (CC BY 4.0), as long as you credit Cherry Grove Craft and link to this page. For where the same businesses point their codes, see where small businesses point their QR codes, and for what goes on their signs, what UK businesses put on their signs.