How to remove tracking from a link
Nearly every link you copy out of an app carries parameters that have nothing to do with the content: identifiers for who shared it, which click it came from, and which campaign gets credit. You can strip them by hand once you know what to look for, or automatically every time you share. This guide covers both.
Anatomy of a tracked link
Everything after the question mark is a list of name=value pairs separated by &. The trackers live there:
https://example.com/story?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&fbclid=IwAR2xK9mQv3nY8dLphttps://example.com/storyThe usual suspects, by platform
| Platform | Parameters | What they do |
|---|---|---|
| TikTok | _t, _r, u_code | Tie the share to your account; the person you send it to can see it came from you |
igsh | Unique ID for your share; the app can show whoever opens it your profile | |
| YouTube, Spotify | si | Share identifier tied to your account |
fbclid | Click ID matching your visit to your Facebook identity | |
| Google ads | gclid | Click ID for ad attribution |
| X (Twitter) | s, t | Share source and a token generated for your share |
| Amazon | tag, ref, pd_rd_* | Affiliate and browse-path tracking |
| Everywhere | utm_source and friends | Campaign labels revealing where you got the link |
Cleaning a link by hand
- If it's a short link (
vm.tiktok.com,tiktok.com/t/,a.co,spoti.fi), open it in a browser first and let it redirect, then work with the full address. The short code itself is the tracker, so there's nothing to edit until it expands. - Delete the question mark and everything after it.
- Put back anything the link actually needs. The common keepers:
vonyoutube.com/watchlinks (the video),qon search pages (the query),twhen you mean to link to a timestamp,listfor playlists. - Open the result once to confirm it still works, then share it.
This works, but it's a chore, and the keeper list is different on every site. That's the problem per-site rules solve.
Cleaning every link automatically
Link Sanitizer moves the whole routine into your share sheet. Share a link to it from any app and it expands short links, applies community-maintained rules that know which parameters each site needs, strips the rest, and hands you a fresh share sheet with the clean link. Everything runs on your device.
Frequently asked questions
Will deleting parameters ever break a link?
Sometimes. Most parameters are trackers, but some do real work: v is the video on youtube.com/watch, q is the query on search pages, t is a timestamp. If a link stops working after cleaning, put back the parameters one at a time, or use a cleaner with per-site rules that already knows which ones matter.
What about short links like vm.tiktok.com or a.co?
Short links are the strongest trackers because the whole address is one opaque code. You have to expand them first: open the link, let it redirect, and clean the full address it lands on. Link Sanitizer does the expansion and cleaning in one step.
Does cleaning links hurt creators?
No. Views, listens, and reads count the same. What disappears is the metadata about you: which account shared it, which ad was clicked, which campaign gets credit.
