Unmask a shortened link
A shortened link says nothing about where it goes. This tool follows the redirects in your place and shows you the final destination, without you ever visiting it.
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Who makes the request, and why it matters
This is the only tool on this site that is not fully offline: following a redirect requires actually asking the server. That constraint is also the point. Our server does the asking, so the target site sees our address, not yours. It never learns your IP, your browser, your language or your cookies, and it cannot record that you were interested in that link.
What the tool reads, and what it refuses to read
At each hop, only the response headers are read: the status code and, if there is one, the redirection address. The content of the page is never downloaded. The chain stops after eight hops, and any address pointing to a private or internal network is refused outright, so the tool cannot be turned into a probe against our own infrastructure.
What it still cannot tell you
Reaching the final address does not mean the page is honest. Some sites also answer differently depending on who is asking: a phishing page can show a harmless page to a server and the trap only to a phone. A clean chain is a good sign, never a guarantee.
Frequently asked questions
Does this tool open the link for me?
Our server asks the address for its headers, so it learns where the link redirects. Your browser never contacts the site, and the page content is never downloaded, neither by us nor by you.
Does the target site see my IP address?
No. It sees our server's address. That is precisely the point of doing it this way: you find out where a suspicious link goes without telling its owner that you were interested.
Why can this tool not be fully offline like the others?
Because a shortened link holds no information about its destination: only the shortener's server knows it. Finding out means asking, and asking means a network request. Every other tool on this site avoids that, and says so.
Can I use it on an address inside my own network?
No. Any address pointing to a private, local or internal network is refused, at the domain-name stage as well as the raw IP stage. Otherwise the tool could be used to probe our infrastructure, or somebody else's.
Does a clean chain mean the link is safe?
No. It means the redirections lead to a plausible address. A page can be honest with a server and hostile to a phone, and a legitimate domain can be compromised. Keep the reflex: never enter a password or bank details on a page reached from a message.
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