Universal URL Query Parameter Stripper

Copy a link from a shopping app, a social network or a marketing email and you rarely get just the address of the page. You get the address plus a long tail of codes that record where you came from, which campaign reached you, which ad you clicked and sometimes which account shared the link with you. This guide explains how a URL is built, what those codes are, why companies add them, what removing them does and does not protect, and how to clean links safely without breaking them.

The anatomy of a URL

A URL (Uniform Resource Locator) has a strict structure, defined by internet standards and implemented in every browser through the URL API that this tool uses. Take https://www.example.com:443/shop/shoes?colour=red&utm_source=newsletter#reviews:

• Scheme (https): the protocol used to fetch the page. HTTPS means the connection is encrypted.
• Host (www.example.com): the website’s domain name, sometimes followed by a port such as :443, which is normally hidden.
• Path (/shop/shoes): which page or resource on that site you want.
• Query string (everything after ?): a list of parameters, written as name=value pairs joined by &.
• Fragment (everything after #): a pointer inside the page, such as a section heading. Browsers never send the fragment to the server.

Query parameters were designed to pass information a page genuinely needs, such as a search term (q=running+shoes), a page number or a product colour. Removing those breaks the link. Over time, though, the query string also became the easiest place to attach measurement data, because whatever is in the link travels with it wherever it is copied, shared or bookmarked.

The main families of tracking parameters

Campaign tags (UTM). UTM stands for Urchin Tracking Module, after the analytics company Google bought in 2005 to create Google Analytics. Marketers add utm_source (who sent the visit, such as a newsletter), utm_medium (the channel, such as email or social), utm_campaign (the campaign name), and optionally utm_term and utm_content. Analytics tools read them when you land on the page and file your visit under that campaign. Other platforms use their own versions: Matomo uses mtm_ and pk_, Mailchimp adds mc_cid and mc_eid, and HubSpot adds _hsenc and _hsmi. Some of these, such as mc_eid, identify the individual subscriber who clicked, not just the campaign.

Ad click identifiers. When you click an ad, the ad network often appends a unique click ID: gclid, gbraid and wbraid for Google Ads, dclid for Google display ads, msclkid for Microsoft Advertising, ttclid for TikTok ads and twclid for X. Each value is unique to one click. The advertiser’s site stores it and reports back when you buy something, so the platform can prove the ad worked and optimise who sees it next. Facebook adds fbclid to almost every outbound link, ads or not.

Social share identifiers. Apps add codes when you press “Share”. YouTube and Spotify add si, Instagram adds igsh or igshid, TikTok adds _t, _r and several more, and X adds s and t. These can tie the link to the account that shared it, so when your friend opens it the platform may learn that the two of you are connected. That is useful to them for growth and recommendations, and it is the main reason privacy-minded people strip these codes before sending a link.

E-commerce clutter and affiliate tags. Shopping sites pack links with internal tracking: Amazon’s ref, pd_rd_ and pf_rd_ codes, qid and sr from search results, eBay’s _trkparms and _trksid, AliExpress’s spm and scm. Amazon also uses tag for its affiliate programme: if a creator or deals site shared the link, the tag earns them a commission at no extra cost to you. Removing it is your choice, but if you want to support whoever recommended the product, turn off “Strip E-commerce Clutter” or tap the tag parameter to keep it.

Redirect wrappers. Some services do not add parameters; they wrap the real address inside their own. Google search results, Facebook’s l.facebook.com/l.php, Instagram’s l.instagram.com, Outlook’s Safe Links and Google AMP pages all send you through an intermediate page that records the click first. This tool unwraps them and returns the real destination, then cleans that too.

How the cleaner decides what to remove

The tool parses each link with the browser’s built-in URL API, the same code your browser uses to load pages, so unusual encodings and international domain names are handled correctly. It then checks every parameter against two lists. The first is a set of trackers that mean the same thing on every website, such as utm_source or gclid. The second is a set of site-specific rules, because a short name like ref, t or si is a tracker on Amazon, X or YouTube but could be essential on another site. On YouTube, for example, si is removed but t (the start time) and v (the video ID) are kept. Anything the tool does not recognise is left alone, because an unknown parameter is more likely to be needed than not.

For the most common shopping and video sites, the tool can also rebuild the shortest working form of the link. Any Amazon product page can be reached at amazon.co.uk/dp/ followed by the ten-character product code, YouTube videos at youtu.be/ plus the video ID, and eBay listings at ebay.com/itm/ plus the item number. These short forms are official, stable and contain no tracking.

What cleaning a link protects, and what it does not

Stripping parameters stops a link from carrying information about where it came from and who shared it. That matters most when you pass links on: the person you send a clean link to does not inherit your campaign codes, your click ID or your account’s share code, and the site cannot use the link to connect the two of you. Clean links are also shorter, look more trustworthy and are easier to read before clicking.

It is not a complete privacy shield. The website you visit can still use cookies, logins, your IP address and browser fingerprinting to recognise you, and many sites run their own analytics regardless of how you arrived. Browsers have started tackling link tracking directly: Firefox strips known tracking parameters in Strict Enhanced Tracking Protection and private windows, Safari removes some identifiers in private browsing and when links are opened from Mail and Messages, and Brave strips them by default. A link cleaner covers the gap when you are copying links to share, especially from inside apps where those browser protections do not apply.

Short links: convenience versus transparency

Link shorteners such as bit.ly, TinyURL and is.gd replace a long address with a short code that redirects to it. They are handy for print, posters and character-limited posts, but they hide the destination and the shortening service can count every click. That is why this tool does not expand short links: finding out where bit.ly/xyz goes requires a server to visit it, which would mean your link leaving your device. Open the short link in your browser once, then paste the full address it lands on here.

If you need a short link after cleaning, first use the official short forms the tool produces, which are short, permanent and transparent. If you still need a shortener, the “Create short link” button opens is.gd with your clean link filled in, so the shortened version at least points to a tracker-free address.

A shortener earns its place when a link has to be typed or read by a person: on a flyer, a poster, a business card or a slide, read out on a call, or squeezed into a text message or a short bio field. It is rarely worth it elsewhere. Amazon, YouTube, eBay, Etsy and AliExpress links already have short official forms. X counts every link as 23 characters whatever its length, so shortening saves nothing there. Chat apps and social networks usually turn a full link into a preview card, which looks more trustworthy than an unfamiliar short code. Because a short link depends on the shortening service staying online, keep full clean links for anything meant to last, such as printed books, manuals or long-term QR codes.

A safe link-sharing checklist

1. Paste the link here before sharing it, especially links copied from shopping, social and email apps.
2. Check the breakdown: red items were removed, green items were kept. Tap any item to change that.
3. Open the clean link once if it matters, to confirm it still shows the right page, size or colour.
4. Keep affiliate tags when you want to support the creator who recommended a product.
5. Avoid shortening sensitive links; a short link hides where it goes and lets the shortener count clicks.
6. Never share links that contain login or reset tokens, such as token= or session=. Cleaning does not make those safe to share, and this tool deliberately leaves them alone so it never breaks a sign-in flow you are in the middle of.

A clean link is a small habit with an outsized payoff: shorter messages, fewer cross-site profiles and links that say exactly where they go.