Digital Instructions in the EU: What Changes in 2027, and for Whom

Good news, in short

The EU is making digital instructions normal, and that is great news for anyone who makes things people assemble, install or set up. Here is the short version, then the details.

• From 20 January 2027, machinery sold in the EU may come with digital instructions. A QR code on the product can lead straight to help. How codes work best: QR codes on manuals.
• That code sits on the product, at the very moment someone is stuck. Put a short film behind it and people see each step instead of decoding drawings. Why film wins: Video vs paper.
• Clearer steps mean fewer support calls and fewer returns. More on that in Reduce returns.
• Selling furniture or other products without a motor? Nothing new to fear: clear instructions in your customer's language were already required, and a film makes them clearer.
• Three quick wins today: check your manual with Manual health check, make a code with Assembly QR code, and see your own manual as a film for free at start.

The details

From 20 January 2027, the EU Machinery Regulation lets manufacturers supply instructions for use in digital form instead of only on paper. It covers machinery, meaning products with a motor or drive. For other consumer products, the General Product Safety Regulation has asked for clear instructions and safety information since 13 December 2024, but it does not add a new digital-only option.

What changes on 20 January 2027

Regulation (EU) 2023/1230 replaces the Machinery Directive from 20 January 2027, with no transition period. Under the old directive, the instructions travel with the machine, in practice on paper. Article 10(7) of the new regulation makes a digital format a legal choice in every EU country, on a few conditions.

• The product, its packaging or an accompanying document shows how to reach the digital instructions.
• The user can print, download and save them, so they are there when the machine has broken down.
• They stay online for the expected lifetime of the product and at least 10 years after it was placed on the market.
• A buyer who asks at the time of purchase gets a paper copy, free of charge, within one month.
• For products that non-professional users may use, the safety information needed to put the product into service and use it safely still comes on paper.

Which products count as machinery

Machinery is equipment with a drive system that moves parts, such as a motor. In the consumer world that means things like treadmills and other powered fitness equipment, electric bicycles, electric height-adjustable desks, lawn mowers and garden machines, and power tools.

A bookcase, a crib, a garden shed or a flat-pack wardrobe is not machinery. Those products are covered by the General Product Safety Regulation instead.

What the product safety rules ask of everyone else

Regulation (EU) 2023/988 has applied since 13 December 2024. Two parts touch instructions directly.

• Article 9(7): the manufacturer makes sure the product comes with clear instructions and safety information in a language consumers easily understand, unless it can be used safely without them.
• Article 19: when a product is sold online, the offer clearly and visibly shows any warning or safety information that comes with the product, in a language consumers easily understand.

Now versus 2027, in plain words

For machinery, yes in practice: today the instructions come with the machine, and from 20 January 2027 a digital version can be the main one, with paper on request and the key safety information still on paper for consumer products.

For everything else, nothing becomes allowed in 2027. What changed is that instructions and online listings are now regulated more closely. Either way, a QR code on the product or the box is becoming the normal way to reach instructions.

Use the QR code for more than a PDF

Most teams will meet the rule the minimum way: a QR code that opens the same PDF as before. It works, and it wastes the best placement a brand gets: on the product, at the moment the customer needs help.

Put the downloadable PDF and a short, captioned step-by-step film on the same page. The document covers the obligation, and the film gets the job done. In a Stanford study, people building a TV stand with clear step-by-step instructions finished 35% faster and made 50% fewer errors than with the factory instructions.

A checklist for the switch

• List which products are machinery and which fall only under the product safety rules.
• Decide where the mark that says how to reach the instructions goes: product, packaging or accompanying document.
• Host the instructions on a page you control, as a downloadable PDF, for the product lifetime and at least 10 years.
• Set up the paper path for buyers who ask at purchase, within one month and free of charge.
• Keep essential safety information on paper for products non-professionals may use.
• Show warnings and safety information in your online listings, in the buyer's language.
• Add a short film for the steps people get wrong, behind the same QR code. Start with Assembly QR code and Manual health check.

Where Manual to Video fits

Upload the manual you already have at start and get a free watermarked preview of it as an animated, captioned, step-by-step film in your brand. The film goes next to your digital instructions, so one QR code gives customers both.

This guide summarises the regulations as published in the Official Journal of the EU. It is not legal advice, so check how they apply to your products with your notified body or legal adviser.