See where a short link really goes

Short links like bit.ly, tinyurl.com and t.co hide the address you’ll land on, which is why scammers use them too. Paste one below and LinkGuard follows it for you, so you see where it goes before you do.

Updated 6 October 2026 · 2 min read

Check one now

Paste a short link

Paste the short link, or the whole message it came in. LinkGuard checks up to 8 links at once.

Only the web addresses in your message are sent for checking. Our server never reads or keeps the rest of it.

Got a QR code?

Check it before you open it. The code is read in your browser, and only a web address in it is sent for checking.

How LinkGuard checks it

Followed for you, not by you

  1. 1

    Followed on our server

    LinkGuard’s server follows the short link and any redirects after it, up to four hops, to the page it lands on. Your browser doesn’t go there.

  2. 2

    Checked at every stop

    The short link, every redirect and the landing page are looked up in three public phishing and malware lists: OpenPhish, PhishTank and URLhaus.

  3. 3

    A clear answer

    Links no list knows are judged by Jev, TypeSafe AI’s decision model. If Jev doesn’t answer in time, a quicker rule-based check answers instead, and the result says so. You see where the link lands, with an answer such as Safe, Check first or Scam.

Without LinkGuard

Other ways to check

  • Bitly links: add a +

    Add a + to the end of a bit.ly link (bit.ly/abc+) and Bitly shows a page saying where it goes, instead of sending you there.

  • Hovering isn’t enough

    On a computer, resting the pointer on a short link shows only the short link itself, not where it ends up.

  • Don’t open it to find out

    Opening a short link to see where it goes is exactly what a scam wants. Check it first.

Let LinkGuard do it

See where every link goes before you click.

Add to Chrome, it’s freeCheck a link now

FAQ

Common questions

How do I see where a bit.ly link goes without clicking it?

Paste it into LinkGuard on this page and it shows where the link lands. For Bitly links you can also add a + to the end of the link to see Bitly’s own preview page.

Is it safe to open a short link?

Only once you know where it goes. Plenty of short links are fine, but they hide the destination, so check them first, especially in a text or email you weren’t expecting.

Does LinkGuard open the link on my phone or computer?

No. LinkGuard’s server follows the short link and its redirects, so your browser never goes there while it checks.

What if LinkGuard can’t tell where it goes?

If LinkGuard can’t follow a short link to the end, for example because it keeps redirecting more than four times, the result says it couldn’t follow it. For well-known short link services, such as bit.ly, tinyurl.com and t.co, it then won’t call the link Safe.

Sources

Where this advice comes from

Guides

More help