How it works : Clean a link
Paste a link: the tool shows every tracker, says who it belongs to, and hands you the clean address. It never goes to see where the link leads, and it does not break the parameters that actually do something.
A link copied from a newsletter, a social network or a search result is almost never the link to the page. It is the link to the page PLUS a tag saying where you came from, through which campaign, and often exactly who you are. Forwarding that link to someone hands them your tag: whoever clicks is counted as you.
The tool shows every parameter before removing it, and says which family it belongs to. That is the point: you teach somebody nothing by handing back a clean link without telling them what was on it. This tool is a bridge with “Click by click”, the other resource in the same programme.
Two things it does that almost no other one does. First, it refuses to break the parameters that DO something: a newsletter's identifier sometimes carries the unsubscribe link, and removing it makes the “unsubscribe” button useless. Those are flagged separately and kept, unless you ask otherwise. Second, it unwraps redirect wrappers that carry the address in the clear, without ever asking anybody anything.
How it works
- Paste the link into the field. You can paste the whole sentence around it: the tool finds the address inside.
- Click “Clean this link”. The table lists every parameter found, its family, and what was done with it.
- Copy the clean address with the button. If a parameter was flagged as risky to remove, a checkbox lets you remove it anyway, knowingly.
Formats accepted
The tool accepts an http or https address, pasted on its own or in the middle of a sentence. It accepts no other kind of address: an email link or an app link has no tracking parameter to remove.
A web address
Parsed by the browser's own address parser, which visits nothing. No request goes out, and the “Proof” page explains how to check that in thirty seconds.
Its limits
A shortened link cannot be unwrapped here
A t.co, bit.ly or similar link carries nothing but an opaque token: the destination only exists in the service's database, and finding it would mean asking. That would be an outgoing request, so out of doctrine by nature. Wrappers that carry the address IN THE CLEAR inside the address itself (search engine redirects, social network redirects, corporate email gateways) do unwrap here without asking anybody anything.
Some tracking parameters are FUNCTIONAL, and the tool does not remove them on its own
A newsletter's identifier often carries the unsubscribe link: removing it makes the “unsubscribe” button useless, which is the opposite of a service. Others support cookieless conversion measurement required by certain privacy rules. Those are flagged separately, kept by default, and a checkbox lets you remove them when you know what you are doing.
Facebook's parameter is documented by nobody
We found NO publisher documentation for this parameter: what is known about it comes from observation and public filter lists. The tool removes it, as Firefox does by default, but we present it as an observation, not as a fact established by its author. That is this site's rule: a claim with no first-hand source is a rumour, even when everyone repeats it.
A parameter the tool does not recognise is KEPT
Removing what we do not understand would break links: a product identifier, a page number, a language, a legitimate session token all look like parameters. The tool lists what it keeps, so you can judge for yourself.
The tool does not touch the address path
Some sites slip an identifier into the path rather than the parameters. Telling that apart from a real part of the address would mean knowing the site: impossible without visiting it, which we do not do. So the tool sticks to parameters, and says so.
Questions about this tool
Does the tool visit the link I paste?
No, never, and it is checkable in thirty seconds. Open the inspector with the F12 key, “Network” tab, clear the list, then paste your link and clean it. Not a single line appears. That matters especially here: on a link tool, you would rightly suspect the site of going to see where the link leads. It does not, and an automatic check refuses to publish the site if a single byte went out.
What are these parameters for, really?
For attaching your click to a campaign, and often to a specific send. Campaign tags say the source, the medium and the name of the operation: that is ordinary audience measurement. Advertising networks' click identifiers go further: they let your visit be reattached to an advertising profile. And a newsletter's send identifier designates ONE recipient: if you forward that link, whoever clicks is counted as you.
Why do you not remove everything?
Because removing everything breaks links, and a tool that breaks things is worse than a tool that does nothing. Some tracking parameters are also functional: a newsletter's identifier often carries the unsubscribe link. The tool flags those separately, keeps them, and lets you decide. As for parameters it does not recognise, it keeps those too and shows them to you: a page number or a product identifier looks a great deal like a tracker.
Can you unwrap a shortened link?
No, and nobody can without a request. A short link contains only a token, something like three letters and four digits: the destination only exists in the database of the service that created it. Knowing it means asking, so sending a request, so stepping outside what this site allows itself. Wrappers that put the address IN THE CLEAR inside the address, on the other hand, unwrap perfectly well here: that covers search engine redirects, social network redirects and corporate email gateways.
Does the clean link really lead to the same place?
Yes. The parameters removed do not change the page served: they serve measurement, not navigation. That is in fact how they are recognised. The only case where a clean address behaves differently is the parameters flagged as risky, which is exactly why they are flagged and kept.
Firefox already does this, doesn't it?
Partly, and it is worth knowing which part. Firefox removes a short list of eight parameters by default, in private browsing or strict protection, including the identifiers of several newsletter services. This tool covers many more families, it SHOWS you what it removes instead of doing it silently, and it works in every browser. The two are complementary: one protects you when you click, the other stops you passing on your tag when you share.
Paste a link: the tool shows every tracker, says who it belongs to, and hands you the clean address. It never goes to see where the link leads, and it does not break the parameters that actually do something.
VerifyThe proof, step by stepThe network inspector check, explained one gesture at a time, with screenshots.
The cornerThe security cornerEncrypt a file, build a strong passphrase, check that a download has not been tampered with, strip the trackers from a link.