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URL Shortener · Password-Protected Link

Password protect a link

Share a link that asks for a password before it opens, so only the people you choose can see where it goes. Free.

Press Enter or the Shorten button.

More options custom back-half, expiry, password, campaign tags
Appearance
Letters, numbers, hyphens and underscores. Leave empty for a random one.
Access and expiry
In your time zone (UTC).
Before then, visitors see when it goes live.
4 to 100 characters. Visitors type it before they’re sent on.
Tracking
Redirect type

Want different pages for different countries, phones or times of day, or an A/B test? Set that up after you create the link.

  • Free, no sign-up
  • Every link safety-checked
  • QR code with every link

How to password protect a link

  1. STEP 01

    Paste the link

    Any address: a shared document, a private video, a form.

  2. STEP 02

    Type a password

    On this page the Password box under More options can’t be left empty. Anything from 4 to 100 characters works. If the link only matters for a week, fill in “Stops working at” as well.

  3. STEP 03

    Share the link and the password separately

    We’d send the link in one message and read the password out in class or on a call. Then someone who forwards the link alone doesn’t pass on the way in.

Anyone who opens the short link sees a small page asking for the password. Only the right one takes them on to the page. Without it, they can’t find out where the link goes.

The destination stays hidden

Not even the Link Expander reveals where a protected link goes. It only says the link is protected.

Guessing is slowed down

After 5 wrong tries from one place, that visitor has to wait 5 minutes before trying again. Other people can still open the link.

Your password is never stored as typed

We keep a scrambled form of it, the same way sites store account passwords, and check it on our server.

Change or remove it later

Set a new password, or remove it, from the link’s Edit page.

What a password does and doesn’t protect

A password guards the short link. It doesn’t change the page behind it. If someone already has the full address of that page, they can open it without ever touching your short link.

  • Good for: keeping a link out of the hands of people who see it by chance, in a forwarded chat, a screenshot or a group.
  • Not enough for: truly private files. Use the sharing controls of the service that holds the file, such as Google Drive’s Restricted setting, and use the short link on top.

Everyone shares the same password, so we can’t tell who opened the link. Click stats still count every visit that got through.

Things to know

  • The password is asked for every time. Nothing is remembered in the browser, so a shared computer doesn’t leave the link open for the next person.
  • We can’t tell you a forgotten password. Set a new one from the Edit page instead.
  • Wrong tries don’t count as clicks, and don’t use up a click limit.

Questions about password-protected links

How do I password protect a link?

Paste it above, type a password under More options and press Shorten. People who open the short link have to enter that password first.

Can people see where the link goes without the password?

No. The password page doesn’t show the destination, and our Link Expander only says that the link is protected.

What if someone keeps guessing?

After 5 wrong tries from the same place, they have to wait 5 minutes. That makes guessing a decent password impractical.

I forgot the password. Can you tell me it?

No, because we don’t store it in a readable form. Open the link’s Edit page and set a new one.

Can I make the link expire too?

Yes. Set a date under “Stops working at”, or a click limit, as well as the password.