Should you click a shortened link?
bit.ly, tinyurl and the rest hide the destination by design. That is the whole problem.
Updated 2026-09-26
A shortened link is a redirect. You click something short, it bounces you to somewhere longer. The short version tells you nothing about the destination, which is convenient for posters and tweets, and convenient for other things too.
When a short link is fine
Most of the time. They exist because a full address can run to hundreds of characters. A short link in a newsletter you subscribed to, on a poster in a shop, or from someone you know, is usually just a short link.
When it is not
In an unexpected message. A text about a delivery, a fine, a refund or a bank problem has no reason to hide where it is sending you. Legitimate organisations link to their own domain because their domain is the point.
When it is asking you to sign in or pay. Never reach a login page or a payment page through a short link. Go to the site yourself.
When the shortener itself is one you have never heard of. bit.ly, t.co and tinyurl.com are ordinary. A shortener nobody has heard of, or one that looks like a brand name, is more likely to have been set up for one campaign.
How to see where it actually goes
Most shorteners have a preview. Adding a + to the end of a bit.ly link shows the destination instead of following it. Not universal, but worth knowing.
Use a checker. Our link checker reads the address structurally and tells you what it can, without fetching the page or letting it know you exist.
On a phone, press and hold. You will at least see the short address. If the message came with a QR code, your camera shows the address before you tap.
The thing people get wrong
Expanding a short link tells you the destination, not whether the destination is honest. Once you have the full address, you still have to read it — the real domain is the last two parts before the first single slash. We wrote that up separately in how to read a web address.
The short version
A short link from a stranger, asking you to do something, is a short link that is hiding something. A short link in a newsletter about kitchen worktops is a short link. Context does most of the work.
Check a suspicious message Free, and it needs no account.