Creating links

A short link sends visitors to a destination URL and counts each visit. This guide covers the new-link form, from the destination to the advanced redirect rules, and importing links in bulk.

Create a link

Open Links in the sidebar and select New link. You can also paste a URL anywhere on the Links page outside a text field, or press C.
Enter the Destination URL. This is the only required field.
Fill in any optional fields described below.
Select Create link.

Shortn copies the new short link to your clipboard and opens its overview. Each link you create counts towards your plan's monthly link limit, shown under Usage in the sidebar.

Title and key suggestions

When you paste a destination, Shortn looks up the page. Once the details arrive, select Use page title to fill in the Title, or Use suggested key to take a readable key. Your own edits are never overwritten. If the page can't be read, enter a title yourself or leave it empty.

Custom key

The key is the part after the domain, for example example in shortn.at/example. Leave Custom key empty for a random key, or type your own using letters, digits, - and _. Custom keys depend on your plan; if yours doesn't include them, the form says which plan does.

If you later rename a key, the old key keeps redirecting to the same link.

Title, description and tags

Title and Description help you find the link in lists and analytics. Visitors don't see them.

Under Tags, search for an existing tag or type a new one to create it. A link can carry up to 50 tags. Tags power the filters on the Links page, in the campaign builder and in the bio page link picker.

Password

Under Password, set a password that visitors must enter before they reach the destination, plus an optional Hint shown on the password page. Password protection depends on your plan.

Advanced options

Expand Advanced options for redirect rules. Each group shows a one-line summary of its current setting.

Schedule and expiry: set Available from (UTC) and Expires at (UTC), an Approximate lifetime visit limit, and a Fallback URL when unavailable for visitors who arrive outside that window. The visit limit includes QR scans and is approximate, because simultaneous visits can exceed it.
Country targeting: send visitors from specific countries to other URLs. Use two-letter country codes; the first matching rule wins.
Device targeting: route by operating system, device type, or both.
Weighted rotation: split traffic between up to 10 destinations by relative weight. Returning visitors keep the same destination.
App links: open an iOS or Android app, with a fallback to the web destination or the app store.
Redirect and query parameters: forward incoming query parameters, use a permanent HTTP 301 redirect, and set fixed UTM values. See UTM parameters.
Social preview: set the title, description and image that link-preview bots show when the link is shared.

Import links from a CSV file

To create many links at once, select Import on the Links page. Upload a UTF-8 CSV file with a header row, up to 50,000 rows, then map its columns, review the validation results and create the valid links. Imported links count towards your plan's monthly limit.

After you create a link

The link's page has tabs for Overview, Analytics, QR code, UTM variants and Edit. From the QR code tab you can select Create a QR code to make a printable code that uses this link.

Changes you save on Edit apply from the next click.