Link cleaner
Paste a link, or a whole message, and get the same address back without the parts that are only there to follow you around. Each part is named, with who added it and what it reports.
The result appears as you type or paste. The link is taken apart inside this page: it is not sent to us and it is never opened.
What the long tail of a link is for
A web address has a part it needs and a part it can do without. Everything up to the question mark says which page you want. After the ? comes the query, made of name=value pairs joined by &. The page can read those pairs, and so can every script running on it.
Some pairs are instructions to the page. ?q=running+shoes is a search, ?page=3 a position in a list, ?v=… the video to play. Take them out and you land somewhere else. Others change nothing you can see. They’re notes for the destination site and its advertising partners, and they’re the reason a link copied from a newsletter runs to four lines.
Three kinds of tracking parameter
| Kind | Examples | What it tells the destination |
|---|---|---|
| Campaign labels | utm_source, utm_medium, utm_campaign, mtm_campaign | Which newsletter, post or ad the visit came from. It’s the same for everyone who clicks the same link. |
| Click identifiers | fbclid, gclid, msclkid, ttclid, twclid | A number created for one click. The ad platform keeps a record of who made that click, so the visit and any purchase can be matched to an account. |
| Recipient and share identifiers | mc_eid, _hsenc, mkt_tok, igshid, si | The subscriber an email was sent to, or the account that pressed Share. Forward a link like that and the people who open it are tied to you. |
Watch out for the third kind before you post a link in public. The first two describe a campaign or a click. This one identifies you.
How the cleaner decides
The tool splits the address and compares each parameter name with a list of known trackers. Names on the list come out. Everything else stays and gets marked functional, because a wrong guess would break the link. Some names only count as trackers on the site that uses them that way: si on YouTube and Spotify, s and t on X, pd_rd_* and the /ref=… path segment on Amazon.
Two cases get special handling:
- Affiliate tags. Amazon’s
tag=names the person who earns a commission, not you. It’s kept by default and labeled, and you can remove it. - Redirect links. Addresses such as
google.com/url?q=…,l.facebook.com/l.php?u=…, Outlook Safe Links or Proofpoint URL Defense carry the real destination inside them. The tool pulls it out and tells you which service was standing in the way.
Every decision has a button. If the cleaned link opens the wrong page, put the last removed parameter back and copy again.
What can’t be cleaned
A short link such as bit.ly/3xYz doesn’t contain its destination at all. The real address sits in the shortener’s database, and the only way to learn it is to ask that server, which counts as a click. Most click counters used by email services work the same way. This tool never opens a connection for your link, so it tells you what the link is and leaves it alone.
Cleaning a link changes what the next site learns from the address. It doesn’t hide your visit, your IP address or your cookies, and it doesn’t undo a click you already made on the original link.
The list of trackers is long, but it isn’t complete. A site can invent its own parameter tomorrow, and an unknown name is always kept. If a parameter has a long random-looking value and the page loads the same without it, it was probably a tracker.
Questions people ask
What is fbclid in a URL?
A click identifier that Facebook and Instagram add to outside links. With it, the destination site can report your visit back to Meta, which can match it to the account that clicked. The page works the same without it.
Is it safe to remove utm parameters?
Yes. utm_source, utm_medium, utm_campaign, utm_term and utm_content are only read by statistics tools. Removing them never changes the page. The site just counts your visit as a direct one.
What does ?si= mean in a YouTube or Spotify link?
It’s a share identifier created when someone presses the Share button. Everyone who opens that link gets associated with that one share. Remove it and the video or track still plays. On YouTube, keep t= if you want the start time.
Can you show where a bit.ly or t.co link goes?
Not without visiting it. The destination of a short link is stored on the shortener’s server, not in the link. This tool makes no network request with what you paste, so all it can tell you is that the link is a short one.
Is the link I paste sent to your server?
No. The script that takes the link apart runs in your browser, and nothing you type in the field is transmitted or stored. Load the page, disconnect from the network and it still works.
Does removing the Amazon tag change the price?
No. The tag= parameter only names the affiliate who gets a commission on the sale. You pay the same price with or without it.