Link Unshortener Support

Email: link-unshortener@underpassapp.com

Announcements Mailing List: https://lists.underpassapp.com/mailman/listinfo/stoptheannouncements

RSS feed: Link Unshortener updates

Privacy: Link Unshortener Privacy Policy

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Test: You can test Link Unshortener with https://bit.ly/2K8UI2I, which has several redirects.

Help Topics:

macOS 11 Big Sur:
The current Mac App Store version of Link Unshortener is fully compatible with macOS 11 Big Sur.

Apple Silicon:
The current Mac App Store version of Link Unshortener is a Universal Binary. It runs natively on both Intel and Apple Silicon Macs.

Refunds:
Apple can grant refunds for App Store purchases on request. App Store developers do not have the power to grant refunds, only Apple has that power. For instructions on how to request a refund, please see Apple's support article Request a refund for an App Store or iTunes Store purchase.

How to enable the share extension:
The share extension included in Link Unshortener can be enabled by the following steps. Alternatively, every Share menu has a "More…" item at the end that performs steps 1 - 3.

  1. Open System Preferences.
  2. Select the Extensions pane.
  3. Select the Share Menu.
  4. Check the box next to Link Unshortener.

System Preferences, Extensions, Share Menu

How to enable the system service:
The system service included in Link Unshortener can be enabled by the following steps. Alternatively, the Services menu in the main menu bar has a "Services Preferences…" item at the end that performs steps 1 - 4.

  1. Open System Preferences.
  2. Select the Keyboard pane.
  3. Select the Shortcuts tab.
  4. Select Services.
  5. Scroll down to the Internet section.
  6. Check the box next to Link Unshortener.

System Preferences, Keyboard, Shortcuts, Services

Preferences:

  1. Replace http with https in URLs.
    By default, this preference is enabled. When enabled, Link Unshortener automatically replaces http:// with https:// in all URLs, for security and privacy.
  2. Trim URL queries
    By default, this preference is set to Known Trackers, which automatically removes known tracking parameters such as utm_source, fbclid, and gclid from query strings while still preserving other URL query parameters that are sometimes necessary to load the correct web page. If you set Trim URL queries to All, then Link Unshortener automatically removes all query strings from URLs, which can give more privacy but can also break some links. You can disable Trim URL queries entirely by selecting None.
  3. Copy the unshortened URL to the clipboard.
    By default, this preference is disabled. When enabled, Link Unshortener automatically copies the selected URL in the Unshorten Results to the clipboard after you unshorten a link.
  4. Open the unshortened URL.
    By default, this preference is disabled. When enabled, Link Unshortener automatically opens the selected URL in the Unshorten Results with your selected web browser after you unshorten a link.
  5. Open URLs with
    This popup allows you to select the app that Link Unshortener uses to open URLs. You can select a specific app, such as Safari, or you can select "Default app for URL" to let the system decide which app to use. You can always override this preference by opening the contextual menu on a URL in the Unshorten Results. If you set Link Unshortener itself as your Default web browser in the General pane of System Preferences, then you need to select a specific app in this popup.
  6. Close the window after opening a URL.
    By default, this preference is enabled. When enabled, Link Unshortener automatically closes the window after you open a URL from the results. If there are no open windows remaining, then Link Unshortener will automatically quit too.
  7. Follow the Web URL Rules from the StopTheMadness browser extension.
    By default, this preference is enabled. See How to use Link Unshortener with StopTheMadness below for an explanation.

Link Unshortener Preferences

When you open a new Link Unshortener window, "Trim URL queries", "Replace http with https", and "Open URLs with" will match your Link Unshortener Preferences, but you can temporarily override those at any time in a Link Unshortener window.

Keyboard shortcuts:
You can find many keyboard shortcuts listed in the main menu of Link Unshortener. Below are some convenient keyboard shortcuts not listed in the main menu.

  1. When the link editing field is focused, press the return key to unshorten the link.
  2. When one or more URLs are selected in the results, press the return key to open the URL(s) in your selected web browser.

How to use Link Unshortener with StopTheMadness:
(Watch the video tutorial on YouTube.)

StopTheMadness allows you to create Web URL Rules that automatically send clicked links from Safari to other apps. For example, you can create rules to send https://bit.ly/ and https://t.co/ links from Safari to Link Unshortener. You can also set Link Unshortener preferences to automatically open the expanded links in Safari again. See StopTheMadness support for more details.

Even better, Link Unshortener automatically reads and follows the Web URL Rules created in StopTheMadness! If you set Link Unshortener as your default web browser in the General pane of System Preferences, then links clicked in Mail app, for example, will be sent to Link Unshortener, which will then follow your StopTheMadness Web URL Rules. So you could create a rule to send all https://docs.google.com/ links to Google Chrome instead of Safari.

Tip: If you set your default web browser to Link Unshortener, it's best for overall compatibility to switch your "Trim URL queries" preference from "All" to "Known Trackers", because many URLs rely on the query to identify the appropriate page to load.

System Preferences, General

StopTheMadness can also add an "Open Link with" item to Safari's contextual menu. In StopTheMadness, you can set Link Unshortener as the app to open links with. See StopTheMadness support for more details.

Exclusions:

In the Exclusions window, you can add URLs to exclude from unshortening. Excluded URLs will not have their URL queries trimmed, will not be upgraded from http to https, and will not be checked for redirects.

You can specify a URL with or without a /path. Paths and subpaths will always be automatically matched. (There are no wildcard characters.)

Exclusions window

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