How to edit a QR code after printing

Scan the printed code with your phone camera and look at the link in the preview before opening it.

• A short link on a QR service's domain (such as qrtracer.io/r/… or another provider's short domain) means it's dynamic. The provider stores the real destination and can change it.
• Your own website address, or the full final link, means it's almost certainly static. The destination is stored in the pattern.

Not sure? Upload a photo of the code to our QR code checker, which decodes it and tells you which provider, if any, sits behind it.

Log in to the service that created the code and edit the destination URL. The printed pattern stays the same; the redirect now sends people to the new page.

In QRtracer:
1. Open your dashboard and find the code by its name.
2. Edit the destination URL and save.
3. Scan a printed copy to confirm it opens the new page.

You can edit the destination of an existing QRtracer code on every plan, including Free after the 30-day trial. If the code came from another provider, check that your account there is still active: some providers deactivate dynamic codes when a trial ends.

A static code can't be edited by anyone, because there's no redirect in between. You have three practical options:

• Keep the old destination alive. If you control the website, set up a redirect from the old URL to the new page. This is often the cheapest fix for printed materials already in circulation.
• Cover it. Print a sticker with a new dynamic code and place it over the old one. Make it large enough to cover the old code completely, including its blank border.
• Reprint. For the next print run, use a dynamic code so this doesn't happen again.

You can change the destination URL as often as you need. You can't change anything physical about copies already printed: the size, colours, logo or position of the pattern. Design changes in QR Studio apply to new downloads only.

Changing the destination also doesn't reset scan history. In QRtracer, earlier scans stay on the same code, so your totals cover both the old and new destination. Note the date of each change if you want to compare before and after.

Choose a dynamic code if the link might change, for example for menus, event pages, forms, job adverts and seasonal offers. Give each placement its own named code so you can update or compare them separately. Test the final proof at its printed size. See static vs dynamic QR codes for a full comparison.