Follow these steps to shorten a link. When you shorten a link in Bitly, you also get to take advantage of our advanced link-shortening features, like customizing your short URL, using UTMs, creating a QR Code, and more.
If you just need a basic short link to share, press Enter/Return on your keyboard after you enter your long URL in Step 3.
To shorten a link in Bitly:
- Log in to your Bitly account.
- Click Create new in the top-left corner and select Link. You can also press b on your keyboard as a shortcut.
- Enter the link you’d like to shorten in the Destination field. Optionally, add a title to make your link easier to find later on.
- If you have UTM parameters for your link, toggle the switch and enter your UTMs in the relevant fields. We'll append the parameters to the long link before shortening it.
- If you have a paid subscription with a custom domain, select your domain or use bit.ly.
- Enter a custom back-half to make your link more unique. Your limit for custom back-halves depends on your plan.
- Toggle the QR Code option to create a QR Code for this link. With some paid plans, you can also modify the QR Code.
- Toggle the Link-in-bio option to add this link to your Bitly Link-in-bio. After you create the link, head over to your Link-in-bio page to publish it.
- Select Create in the bottom-right corner. Your link will be created and copied to your clipboard, ready for you to share!
Want to know what else you can do with your links? Visit Link Management to learn more.