How to shorten a link
- Paste the long web address into the box.
- Press Shorten it. The address is sent to TinyURL, who create the short link.
- Press the copy button next to the result to put the short link on your clipboard.
- Every link you shorten in this session stays listed until you leave the page.
About this tool
A URL shortener turns a long, unwieldy web address into a short one that fits in a message, a slide or a printed page. This tool does that, and it is the one place on this site where something leaves your device — which is worth explaining rather than glossing over.
Every other tool here runs entirely in your browser because file conversion is arithmetic and a browser can do arithmetic. A short link is different in kind. It works because a server somewhere holds a record saying "this short code means that long address" and answers with a redirect when someone visits it. There is no browser-only version of that: a code generated locally would have nothing behind it to redirect. So this tool calls TinyURL, an established service that has been doing this since 2002, and the address you type is sent to them. Nothing else is, and no file on this site is ever uploaded anywhere.
What we do not do is add anything. Some shorteners append tracking parameters, insert an interstitial advertisement before the destination, or route the click through their own analytics first. The link you get here goes straight to the address you gave. If you would rather nothing left your device at all, the QR code generator is fully local and often solves the same problem — a QR code on a poster or a slide does the job a short link was going to do, without a third party in the middle.
Frequently asked questions
- Why is this tool not fully private like the others?
- Because a short link needs a server to answer the redirect. That is not something a browser can do alone. The address you type goes to TinyURL; nothing else does, and no file ever leaves your device.
- Who creates and hosts the short link?
- TinyURL. They generate the code and run the redirect, so the link's lifetime is governed by their service and terms rather than ours.
- Do the links expire?
- Not by design. TinyURL links are intended to be permanent, but they are not ours to guarantee. For something that must last, link to a page you control.
- Do you add tracking to the link?
- No. Nothing is appended and there is no interstitial page. The short link goes straight to the address you entered.
- Can I choose a custom ending?
- Not from here. This uses the simple creation endpoint, which returns an automatically generated code.