How To Create A Short Url From A Long One

You can shorten a URL by using an URL shortener website, which will shrink your URL for free.
There are dozens of URL shortener websites, but Bitly and TinyURL are among the most common.
Here's how to shorten any URL link using one of these free websites.
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URLs can get long and unwieldy. The average web address is too complicated to type by hand, and URLs tend to look terrible when typed out in full. And if you're trying to include an URL in a Twitter post, you're going to use up most of your character limit.

That's why URL shorteners are so common; they let you take a long and cumbersome URL and convert it into a compact web address with just a few clicks.

When you use a URL shortener, the service automatically redirects your shortened URL to the correct, full-length web address. The person clicking the short URL doesn't need to know anything about the fact that it has been shortened; it just happens automatically.

There are a lot of web shorteners to choose from. For years, one of the most popular was Google's URL shortener at goo.gl. Google ended support for that tool in 2019.

Instead, here's how to shorten a URL using two of the most common web shorteners today.

How to shorten a URL using Bitly

You can create shortened URLs for free using Bitly, or subscribe to Bitly's premium service starting at $29 per month. The advantage of a paid Bitly account is that you can create personalized short URLs that resemble the name of your company. This is great for branding.

Even if you don't need the benefits of a paid account, you can create a free Bitly account that gives you access to a dashboard that tracks all your shortened URLs, and how often they've been clicked. It's convenient for managing short URLs you create.

Bitly's dashboard is available for free and keeps track of all the URLs you create.

Here's how to shorten a URL.

1. Copy the URL you want to shorten.

2. Open Bitly in your web browser.

3. Paste the URL into the "Shorten your link" field and click "Shorten."

4. Click "Copy" to grab the new URL.

Creating a shortened URL in Bitly is as simple as copying and pasting.

How to shorten a URL using TinyURL

TinyURL is another common shortener. Unlike Bitly, though, it's completely free — there's no paid subscription version — and it has no dashboard option. This simplicity makes it a favorite for people who need to make a short URL quickly and easily.

Just note that since it's free, there's a lot of advertisements on the site. You might want to install an adblocker before visiting.

Here's how to use TinyURL:

1. Copy the URL you want to shorten.

2. Open TinyURL in your web browser.

3. Paste the URL into the "Enter a long URL to make tiny" field.

4. If you would like your shortened URL to include a specific phrase, enter that in the "Custom alias" field. Or you can leave the field blank and let Tinyurl create a random web address for you.

5. Click "Make TinyURL!"

6. On the next page, TinyURL will display the new, shortened URL. Click "Copy to clipboard" to use the URL.

TinyURL doesn't have a lot of bells and whistles, but it'll make a short URL with a single click.

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Dave Johnson

Freelance Writer

Dave Johnson is a technology journalist who writes about consumer tech and how the industry is transforming the speculative world of science fiction into modern-day real life. Dave grew up in New Jersey before entering the Air Force to operate satellites, teach space operations, and do space launch planning. He then spent eight years as a content lead on the Windows team at Microsoft. As a photographer, Dave has photographed wolves in their natural environment; he's also a scuba instructor and co-host of several podcasts. Dave is the author of more than two dozen books and has contributed to many sites and publications including CNET, Forbes, PC World, How To Geek, and Insider.