Can you change a QR code link after printing?
Yes, if it is a dynamic QR code and you still control the account that made it. The printed pattern holds a short redirect link, so you change where that link goes and the print stays the same. A static QR code holds the final address itself, so its link cannot change. You either redirect that address or reprint.
1. Which kind of QR code is printed?
Point a phone camera at the print and read the link it offers before opening it.
| The camera shows | Kind | Can the destination change? |
|---|---|---|
A short link on a QR or link service's domain, such as qex.me/AB3XK | Dynamic | Yes, from the account that owns the code |
Your full website address, for example example.com/menu | Static | Not in the code. You can redirect that page on your own website |
| Wi-Fi details, a contact card, plain text, an email or phone number | Static | No. Make a new code and reprint |
A short link alone does not prove you control it. Check that you can sign in to the account it belongs to.
2. Change a dynamic code's link in Qex
- Open the workspace that made the code. Use your dashboard in the same browser. If you saved the workspace with an email, sign in with that email on any device. An unsaved guest workspace lives only in the browser that started it.
- Pick the code whose short link matches the one on the print.
- Edit "Goes to" with the new address and choose Save changes. Keep the same code: a new code has a different short link and would need a reprint.
- Wait about a minute, then scan the print. Scanners see the new link within about a minute. Qex redirects with a temporary (302) redirect, never a permanent 301, so phones and browsers do not keep sending visitors to the old page.
On the free plan you can change one code's destination up to 5 times a day. Free codes do not expire and scans are unlimited. A new destination is screened for safety again. A risky-looking link can stay on hold until the check passes, usually within a minute.
3. The printed code is static
The address is in the pattern itself, so no tool can edit it. Your options, cheapest first:
- Redirect the old address. If the code points to a page on a website you control, keep that address and add a redirect from it to the new page. Visitors scanning the old print arrive at the right place.
- Restore the page. If the old page was deleted, putting it back at the same address fixes every print.
- Cover it. Print a dynamic code as a sticker the same size or larger, and cover the old code fully so phones cannot read both. Make the sticker's link editable this time.
- Reprint. Needed for Wi-Fi, contact and text codes, or when the address is on a domain you no longer control.
4. The code was made with another service
The printed short link points at that service's domain, so only that service can change where it goes. Creating a code with Qex or anyone else cannot take over a domain that is already printed. If its subscription or trial lapsed and the code stopped working, reactivating that account may cost less than a reprint. If you move to a new service, the next print uses the new short link.
5. Test after changing
- Scan the actual print, not the screen preview, after about a minute.
- Open the page on mobile data as well as on Wi-Fi.
- Check the page while signed out: shared documents and drives often ask visitors for access.
- Complete the task: read the menu, open the PDF, reach the booking form.
- If the camera cannot read the code at all, the problem is the print, not the link. See QR code not scanning?
Make a free dynamic QR code · Editable menu code · PDF code · Print checklist