ShrinkThisLink Help / FAQ
General Help
- How do I use ShrinkThisLink.com?
It's easy. Just type or paste the link you want to shrink into the box, and click on the "Shrink This Link!" button. Then you can share the ShrunkLink you get given.
- How can I use ShrunkLinks?
You can share ShrunkLinks in plenty of ways - link to them on your blog or website, email them to friends, send them via instant messengers such as Google Talk, or send them in an SMS.
We do not allow ShrunkLinks to be used in unsolicited bulk/commercial email (spam) or used in other similar manners, and keep a constant eye on usage patterns to enforce this. If a link is deemed to be breaking this rule, it will be blocked from the system; if you think we've made a mistake, or you'd like to report a ShrunkLink being spammed or otherwise abused, please drop us a line at with the full details.- What does 'Cloak URL' do?
'Cloak URL' simply loads the site in an iframe when somebody visits the shrunk link. This means that the true location of the page won't be immediately visible to them; however experienced web users can easily find it out. Note also that some sites may employ techniques to 'break out' of the frame.
- How long will it last?
ShrunkLinks do not expire at all - they'll last indefinately. We aim to provide a service which people can rely on - what's the point in shrinking a link if it's going to expire a short way down the track?
- Letters or numbers?
ShrinkThisLink.com now uses letters instead of numbers in ShrunkLinks, to make them even shorter. If you prefer numbers, you can use the link converter to get a link with numbers instead.
- Will my old ShrunkLinks with numbers still work?
Yes, ShrunkLinks with numbers will still work. If you want to further shrink them to use letters, use the link converter.
- Is ShrinkThisLink.com's service really free?
Yes, the service is really free. There are no hidden costs, and there isn's even any advertising (hidden or otherwise).
- Help! I've forgotten my password!
- For security reasons, we don't store your password in a readable format. If you've forgotten your password, all is not lost though - visit the password reset page and enter your email address, and we'll email you a link you can use to set yourself a new password.
Advanced Topics
- What is 'path forwarding' and do you support it?
'Path forwarding' means that you can append paths to the ShrunkLink and they'll be appended to the long URL.
For example, http://shrunklink.com/n redirects to http://google.com, so http://shrunklink.com/n/addurl redirects to http://google.com/addurl.
This is useful if you have free web hosting, but only a long, complex URL to access it by.
In addition to path forwarding, ShrinkThisLink also supports file extension additions - so if you shrink a link to an image, and want to post it somewhere that only valid image files are allowed, you can add ".jpg", ".gif" or any other extension to the end of your ShrunkLink without breaking it.
- What about cellphones?
You can shrink links and visit ShrunkLinks on many modern mobile phones. Even if your phone isn't on the cellphone compatibility list, please feel free to give it a go - and if it works, and let us know, so we can add it to the list!
- How can I shrink links more efficiently?
Depending on which browser you use, you might be able to speed up the process of shrinking links with ShrinkThisLink.com.
If you use Mozilla Firefox, you can get the ShrinkThisLink.com Link Shrinker Firefox extension.
The Firefox extension adds right-click menu items for shrinking a link to the current page and shrinking a link on the page. It pops up the shrunk link in a small popup window to leave your browsing undisturbed.
If you use Microsoft Internet Explorer, and you have Google Toolbar v4.0 Beta or higher, you can add the ShrinkThisLink.com custom button. If you click it, it'll shrink a link to the current page; or if you paste a link into the Google Toolbar search box before clicking, it'll shrink that link.
For more information on ways to make the most of ShrinkThisLink, check out the Helpers / Tools page.
- Is ShrinkThisLink.com spamming me?
The only email you will ever receive from ShrinkThisLink, other than a response to communications from you, is the registration confirmation email containing your activation link, if you sign up for a user account - or a password reset link if you forget your password.
If you receive spam containing ShrunkLinks, please forward it to us as an attachment (or including full mesage headers) at and we'll investigate. We take spam seriously - we don't think anybody should have to put up with it, and will do what we can to help eliminate it.
- Why register?
With a ShrinkThisLink account, you gain access to My ShrunkLinks, which keeps track of all the links you shrink. Through My ShrunkLinks, you can not only view links you've shrunk, but also keep an eye on how many people are visiting them.
Link Converter
What's this?
For a short time after its initial launch, ShrinkThisLink used numeric IDs. This was soon changed to use letters instead of numbers, to help keep ShrunkLinks shorter for longer.
The Link Converter above can be used to convert between the old-style numeric IDs and the newer alphabetic IDs - both types still work, so it comes down to a matter of personal preference as to which you'd rather use.