Guide · Trust and privacy
How to preview a short link before you open it
A short link can be read before it is followed. This guide shows what the preview page prints, what each line of it means, and what the address tells a careful reader.
What the preview page prints
The full destination address, in plain text, with its scheme: https:// visible. Then the title and description the destination page declares about itself, then the review status. Nothing loads from the destination while the page reads — no redirects fire, no scripts run, no cookies land. The preview is the page a careful reader wanted; WCAG 2.2 asks that a link's purpose be understandable from its context, and the preview is exactly that context, supplied where the short link's seven characters cannot carry it.
How to read the address
- Read the domain before the path:
example.comis the site, the path is a page in it. - Watch for look-alike characters — a mixed-script domain is the trick where
pаypalspells paypal with a Cyrillic a. The service flags those and says so on the page. - An address with a password or a token inside it is a message you are reading by accident; the service refuses to shorten those.
When the preview says stop
An unexpected domain, a declared title that does not match the site it names, a review that failed: each is a complete reason to stay. The page's Continue control is a choice, not a countdown with a skip button — Stay here works as well, and the Report control does the next reader a favour.
Questions
What exactly does the preview show?
The full destination address, the title and description the destination declares about itself, and the link's review status.
Does the preview load the destination website?
No. The page reads without any request to the destination; nothing loads from it until Continue.
Can I skip the preview page?
Yes: a premium link opens straight to the destination. The preview is the free tier's safety — and the reason premium skips it.
What does a mixed-script warning mean?
That the domain mixes letters from different alphabets, a common look-alike trick in phishing. Check the address letter by letter before continuing.
Sources
The documents this guide's statements rest on. Each link opens in a new page.