How to Track QR Code Scans
"Can I track scans" is really two separate questions: what data is available (covered in full on the analytics reference page), and how do you actually get from a blank generator to a real scan count on your screen. This is the second one — the setup steps, in order.
The four steps that get you trackable data
- Make sure the code is dynamic, not static. This is the step people skip and then wonder why their dashboard is empty. Only a dynamic code routes through a server that can record anything — see the decision guide if you're not sure which kind you made.
- Give each physical placement its own code, if that's a question you care about. One code reused across ten posters will tell you total scans but nothing about which poster actually worked. If placement matters, that's a decision to make before printing, not after — see the multi-placement tracking guide for the full reasoning.
- Print it, place it, and wait for real scans. Testing it yourself a handful of times is fine to confirm it works, but don't read too much into a handful of self-inflicted test scans — the numbers only get meaningful once real people are scanning it in the wild.
- Open the code's analytics view and pick a comparison window. Switch between the 7/14/30/90-day views rather than just looking at the lifetime total — that's what lets you tell whether scans are trending up or down, not just how many there have been overall.
Reading the numbers without over-reading them
A low scan count on a new placement usually just means it's new — give it real time in the actual location before concluding it isn't working. A scan count that's genuinely flat over several weeks, on a placement that's had a fair amount of foot traffic, is a much stronger signal that the placement itself (not the QR code) is the issue — check visibility, size, and whether there's an obvious reason to scan it in the first place.
Worth repeating plainly: this tells you whether and how much a code is being scanned, along with rough geography and device type. It does not connect a scan to what that visitor did next on your own site — there's no UTM capture or conversion tracking built in. If you need that last step, point the code's destination at a landing page you've already tagged with your own analytics setup.