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20 Things You Can Shorten and Share Online

5 min read · Updated Sep 2026 · by shorten.click
Long links are hiding all over your life — in documents, videos, profiles, receipts, and printed flyers. Here are 20 kinds of files and stuff you can turn into one clean link like https://shorten.click/go/x8f2K.

You probably think of URL shorteners as a way to tidy up a messy website address. They do that — but they're useful for way more than that. Almost anything you can put a link on can be shortened, and almost any file you share has a long, ugly URL hiding behind it. Here's the full list, grouped by the things people actually share.

01 · Documents & files

Most people share files from Google Drive, Dropbox, or email attachments. Every single one of those has a long, clunky link you can tidy up.

Google Docs, Sheets & Slides

Long docs.google.com URLs shorten into something you can actually read out loud.

PDFs

Contracts, invoices, manuals, menus — one clean link beats a wall of characters.

Word documents & ebooks

Share manuscripts, lead magnets, or whitepapers without the full file path.

Images & galleries

Photo links from uploads get unwieldy fast. A short link keeps them tidy in chat.

Presentations & decks

A pitch deck link you send to a client looks professional, not like a code crash.

Audio & video files

Voice memos, screen recordings, raw footage — shorten the download link before sharing.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Xy9FbjR8mQ2KzLp0AwMnS4gH7cVd3BqT/view?usp=sharing https://shorten.click/go/x8f2K
Share the same short link everywhere instead of pasting fresh long links in every email. One clean URL to remember and reuse.

02 · Videos, music & media

Streaming and social video links are some of the longest URLs on the internet. Shortening them is a no-brainer.

YouTube & Vimeo videos

Full watch URLs are long. Even timestamped links fit neatly after shortening.

Spotify & Apple Music

Songs, albums, and playlist links compress into something shareable.

Podcast episodes

Link a single episode instead of a whole feed when recommending a listen.

Movie & series pages

Streaming catalog URLs are riddled with query strings. Shorten and share.

Google Maps & directions

Pin a location or share directions with a link that fits in a text message.

Meeting invites

Google Calendar, Meet, or Zoom links stay intact but become way easier to paste.

03 · Social profiles & posts

Want someone to follow you somewhere? Hand them a short link instead of making them search.

Profile links

Instagram, TikTok, X, LinkedIn, YouTube channels — all shareable in one clean link.

Specific posts & reels

Share a single post or reel in comments, DMs, and group chats.

Link-in-bio pages

Point your bio link to a hub page and update it anytime without editing your profile.

Portfolios & profiles

Behance, Dribbble, GitHub, personal sites — one short link on your resume.

Activity & lists

Strava activities, Goodreads lists, shared collections — easy to keep short.

Community threads

Point people at one specific comment, thread, or forum topic.

04 · Business, shops & sales

Business links are the longest of all — packed with tracking parameters. A short link keeps them looking human.

Product pages

Amazon, Etsy, Shopify — product URLs are enormous. Shorten before sharing.

Checkout & cart links

Send a ready-to-pay link in SMS or chat without it breaking.

Affiliate & campaign links

Keep your ?utm_ tracking intact, just without the 200-character URL.

Landing pages & signup forms

Google Forms, Typeform, Calendly — shorten the booking and signup links.

Job listings & applications

A short link on a listing or in a direct message looks professional.

Menus & restaurants

Share a menu link on social or on the table — clean and quick to open.

https://shop.example.com/products/organic-cotton-tote-bag?variant=48721566388011&utm_source=instagram&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=summer-sale https://shorten.click/go/x8f2K

05 · Coding & team tools

Devs share links dozens of times a day. Many of them are ridiculously long.

GitHub repos, issues & PRs

Raw GitHub URLs are long. Shorten when you drop them in Slack or a comment.

Stack Overflow answers

Link to the exact answer, not a search you expect them to redo.

Code snippets

Pastebin-style URLs compress neatly into chat-friendly links.

Design boards

Figma, Canva, Miro, Notion — collaboration links get long fast. Shorten them.

Screen recordings

Loom and similar links are huge. A short link keeps team chat readable.

Docs & wikis

Notion pages, Confluence, internal wikis — one tidy link per page.

06 · Print, QR codes & everyday

Links that leave the screen and hit paper deserve the most work — because nobody can copy-paste off a poster.

QR codes

Short URLs make smaller, cleaner QR codes that scan faster and look better.

Business cards & flyers

A short link is something people can actually type if the QR fails.

Wi-Fi & event pages

Login pages, registrations, and event details are made for short links.

Donation & payment links

PayPal, GoFundMe, Stripe — a short link lowers friction at the moment of giving.

Resumes & CVs

One clean link next to your contact details beats a full URL.

Invites & registries

Weddings, showers, gift lists — share one short link everywhere.

The shorter the link, the smaller the QR code — and the more likely it still scans when printed small on a business card or menu.

So the real question isn't "should I shorten this?" — it's "which of these long links in my clipboard right now could use a cleanup?"

Tidy up any link

Free, no sign-up, nothing to install. Paste and go.

Shorten a link