![]() In this area though, there are so many choices for URL expanders that it can be difficult to know which one to use. If you prefer, you can use an online service to run all short URLs through. Copy and paste into your browser and off you go. Then you will be taken to the Bitly site where it will display the long URL.Īll looking good? Then click the “Copy” link which gives you the short URL without the “+” sign. If you find yourself with a Bitly link and you don’t know where it goes, then just add a “+” onto the end of the URL, like so : This will then take you to the TinyURL website where you will be told the long URL.Ī link is provided to take you to the site if you deem it safe. If you have a TinyURL link, simply replace “ www” with “ preview” after the “ like so : But if it’s Mr MysteryMan from MysteryTown, then who knows what rabbit hole you are being taken down? TinyURL If it is the New York Times or the BBC, well that’s OK. When you click on a short URL, you are putting blind faith in the person that they are not sending you to a phishing site or a virus download. So being able to shorten your links is necessary.īut there is a darker side to short URLs too in that you have no idea where they are going. Even when Twitter increased the character count to 280, space was at a premium and brevity mattered. With the popularity of social media and affiliate links, turning a long URL into a short one is essential. I found this very useful, so hopefully it’ll also help somebody else.Ī great way to avoid visiting phishing websites This also works if you want to go to a TinyUrl link on a machine that doesn’t already have the cookies enabled. If you’d like to ensure that the person you are sending links to will see the preview screen even if they haven’t enabled this setting, you can add preview. You’ll be taken to a page on that will show you the final destination link. Once on the site, just click the link for “Click here to enable previews”Īnd now when you click on a TinyUrl link like this one… There’s a feature on the site that will show you a preview of the final destination URL, and there’s not even a login required… it just sets a cookie on your browser. But doesn’t it make you slightly uneasy to click on a link without knowing where it’s going to take you? You’ve already seen them… links to left in comments, on blog posts and especially on Twitter. Prior to starting How-To Geek, Lowell spent 15 years working in IT doing consulting, cybersecurity, database management, and programming work. Over the last decade, Lowell has personally written more than 1000 articles which have been viewed by over 250 million people. He’s been running the show since creating the site back in 2006. Lowell is the founder and CEO of How-To Geek. ![]()
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