Help Centre · Setting up your tag
Everything you need to write a link to your tag yourself with the free NFC Tools app — and how that compares with activating your Taproo tag in one tap.
Use the activation link we email with your order, sign in and choose a destination. The chip keeps its Taproo link, so you can re-target it or swap the page later — and you get scan analytics.
Activate a tagWrite your own URL straight onto the chip with NFC Tools. Full control, no account needed — but changing the destination later means re-writing the tag, and locking it makes that permanent.
See the steps →Decide this before you touch the app — it's the one choice that's awkward to undo once a tag is stuck to something.
https://taproo.com/t/TAP0001The code printed on your tag, in the form /t/ plus the tag ID. Short, so it fits any chip, and the destination is changed from your dashboard — no re-writing.
https://taproo.com/p/your-page-slugPoints straight at one page. Fine if the page will never be swapped; you keep scan analytics for that page.
https://your-site.co.uk/menuA menu, Google review link, booking form or Wi-Fi page. No analytics, and changing it means re-writing every tag.
Never write your one-time activation link (the long /activate?tag=…&code=… address) to a chip — it only works once and then the tag would be pointing at a dead redemption page.
Free on the App Store. Works on iPhone 7 and newer for writing tags.
Download the free NFC Tools app by wakdev from the App Store (iPhone) or Google Play (Android). On Android, turn NFC on in Settings → Connections → NFC.
Have the exact web address ready — your Taproo page URL, Google review link, menu, booking page or Wi-Fi page. Test it in your browser first so you know it loads.
Open NFC Tools, tap Write → Add a record → URL/URI, paste your address including https://, then tap OK.
Tap Write / Write 1 record, then hold the phone flat against the tag. iPhone: use the top-back of the device. Android: use the back-centre. Hold still for 1–2 seconds until the app confirms.
Lock your phone, unlock it, then tap the tag again without opening any app. The link should appear as a banner (iPhone) or open directly (Android).
NFC Tools → Other → Lock tag makes the chip read-only forever. Only lock a tag whose destination will never change — otherwise leave it writable so you can update it later.
/t/ link, check the scan appears in your dashboard — that confirms tracking as well as the write.| Chip | Usable capacity | Typical use |
|---|---|---|
| NTAG213 | 144 bytes (~132 characters of URL) | Stickers, wet inlays, standard keyrings. Plenty for a /t/ short link. |
| NTAG215 | 504 bytes (~492 characters) | Cards and discs where you may store a vCard or a long link. |
| NTAG216 | 888 bytes (~872 characters) | Rare — only needed for large multi-record payloads. |
NFC Tools keeps the record loaded after each write, so for identical tags you can tap one after another without re-entering anything. Separate written tags from blanks into two piles as you go, and read-test every fifth one. If each tag needs a different destination, don't write them by hand — activate them instead, so each tag keeps its own code, its own destination and its own scan analytics.
Locking is permanent. Lock a tag only when it lives somewhere public and its destination will never change — a poster, a standing card on a counter, a product label. If there's any chance you'll change the link, leave it unlocked, or activate a Taproo tag instead so the destination lives in your dashboard rather than on the chip.
| Symptom | Likely cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Write fails part-way / 'Write error' | The phone moved before the transfer completed. | Rest the phone on the tag on a flat surface and hold for a full 2 seconds. Don't lift until the app confirms. |
| iPhone says 'Tag not supported' | The record is plain text, or the chip is locked or damaged. | Re-add the record as URL / URI including https://. If NFC Tools reports the tag as read-only, it's locked — it can't be re-written. |
| Nothing happens when you tap the tag | The phone is in the wrong spot, or the screen is off/locked on Android. | Wake the screen first, then move the phone slowly across the tag to find the antenna. iPhone: top-back. Android: centre-back. |
| Reads on Android, not on iPhone | iOS only auto-opens well-formed URL records. | Check for stray spaces or a double https:// in the record, re-write it, then re-test from the lock screen. |
| Tag on metal won't read | Metal detunes the antenna. | Use an on-metal tag with a ferrite layer, or mount the tag on a 2–3 mm plastic spacer. |
| 'Not enough memory on this tag' | The URL is longer than the chip's capacity. | Use your Taproo /t/ short link instead of a long tracking URL, or move to an NTAG215 chip. |
| Two tags trigger the same page | You wrote the same record to both. | Change the record between writes, or activate each tag separately so their scan analytics stay apart. |
Still stuck? Email hello@taproo.com with the tag code printed on the back and we'll test it our end or replace it.
Reply to your order email with the link you'd like encoded, or build a Taproo page and we'll do the rest before your parcel is dispatched.