URL Expander

Expand shortened URLs to reveal their final destination. See the full redirect chain for any bit.ly, t.co, or other short link.

How to Expand a Shortened URL

Paste any shortened URL into the input field and click Expand. Our tool follows every redirect in the chain, showing you each hop along the way — from the original short link to the final destination. You will see the HTTP status code at each step (301, 302, 307, etc.) so you can understand exactly how the redirect works. This is useful for verifying links before clicking them, debugging marketing campaigns, or auditing affiliate links. The tool supports all major URL shorteners including bit.ly, t.co, goo.gl, ow.ly, tinyurl.com, and any custom short domain.

Why Should You Expand Short URLs?

Shortened URLs hide the real destination, which can be a security risk. Phishing attacks frequently use short links to disguise malicious URLs. By expanding a short URL before clicking, you can verify it leads to a legitimate site. Marketers also use this tool to audit competitor campaigns, check that tracking parameters are correct, and verify that redirect chains are not excessively long (which hurts page load speed and SEO). Our tool performs all checks server-side with strict security measures, so you never need to visit the target URL yourself.

Frequently Asked Questions

All of them. Our tool follows standard HTTP redirects, so it works with bit.ly, t.co, goo.gl, ow.ly, tinyurl.com, rebrand.ly, and any custom domain that uses HTTP redirects.

Yes. We only send HEAD requests to follow the redirect chain — we never download or render the destination page. No scripts or content from the target URL are executed.

301 means a permanent redirect, 302/307 are temporary redirects, and 308 is a permanent redirect that preserves the HTTP method. A 200 status code means you have reached the final destination.

We follow up to 20 redirects. If the chain exceeds 20 hops, we stop and show the results up to that point. Legitimate URLs rarely exceed 3–4 redirects.