# Matter setup sticker faded, peeled, or unreadable? What to do

> The Matter QR sticker on your device is faded or peeling and won't scan. Here's how to recover the pairing code and still commission the device.

_Updated 2026-07-10 · Source: https://rematter.app/guides/matter-setup-sticker-faded/_

Thermal-printed labels don't age well. Heat, sunlight, and a few years on a
powered device turn a crisp Matter QR into a gray smudge that no camera will
read. If your setup sticker is fading or peeling, here's how to recover.

## Try to read what's left

- **Boost the contrast.** Photograph the label in bright, even light, then raise
  contrast in your phone's photo editor. A "dead" QR often still scans from an
  enhanced photo.
- **Fall back to the digits.** The
  [11- or 21-digit manual pairing code](/guides/matter-manual-pairing-code/)
  printed under the QR is plain text, and even a partly faded one is often still
  legible when the QR isn't. Typing it in works exactly like scanning.

## Find a second copy of the code

The factory code is usually printed in more than one place, and those copies
often survive when the on-device one doesn't:

- The **box** or the **quick-start card**.
- A **second label** on the device base or inside a battery compartment.
- The **manufacturer's app**, on the device's detail screen.

[Where to find the Matter pairing code →](/guides/find-matter-pairing-code/)

## If nothing is readable

- **The device is still paired?** You don't need the old sticker. Share it to a
  new ecosystem from the app that controls it now, which issues a fresh
  temporary code. See
  [re-pairing a device you lost the code for](/guides/lost-matter-qr-code/).
- **It isn't paired?** Contact the manufacturer with the serial number; some can
  re-issue the commissioning code.

## Capture it while it's still readable

The lesson of a faded sticker is to copy the code **before** it degrades.
[ReMatter](/) reads the QR (or the manual code) once and stores a permanent,
searchable copy on your phone, and can print a fresh paper QR sheet, so you're
never again relying on a sticker that's slowly disappearing.