Short Link Not Working? A Diagnostic Checklist

A short link that doesn't work is frustrating because the failure is usually silent — you get an error page, or nothing, with no explanation. The causes are a short list. Here's how to isolate yours by what you're actually seeing.

Start with what appears

The symptom narrows it fast.

Nothing loads at all / connection error. DNS or the domain itself. Skip to section 1.

A 404 or "link not found". The slug doesn't resolve. Section 2.

"Link expired" or similar. Working as configured. Section 3.

A warning or block page. Reputation. Section 4.

It redirects to the wrong place. Configuration. Section 5.

Works for you, not for someone else. Section 6.

1. The domain isn't resolving

If nothing loads, the problem is upstream of the link.

• Check the short domain loads on its own in a browser
• If it's a custom domain, confirm the DNS records still point where they should — expired domains and lapsed DNS are a surprisingly common cause
• Check the domain hasn't expired. A shortener domain that lapses takes every link with it.

2. The slug doesn't exist

• Check the case. Many shorteners treat back-halves as case-sensitive. A link typed from print in the wrong case is a different link.
• Check for typos in ambiguous characters — 0 and O, 1 and l, 5 and S. This is the main reason print links fail.
• Was it deleted? Deleting a shared link breaks it permanently and silently. This is why the rule is repoint, never delete.
• Trailing punctuation. A link at the end of a sentence often gets a full stop or bracket appended when copied.

3. It expired, or hit a limit

If you set an expiry date, a click cap, or a one-time limit, the link is doing what you told it to.

Worth knowing: preview crawlers consume click limits. Post a one-use link somewhere that generates a preview and the crawler can spend it before your recipient taps. For genuinely single-use links, send them directly rather than posting them, and leave headroom on the limit.

Check the link's settings before assuming it's broken.

4. It's being blocked

A warning page, or the link silently not delivering in a messaging app, means reputation rather than configuration.

• Shared shortener domain. You inherit the behaviour of everyone else using it — one abuse campaign and every link on the domain hits warnings.
• The destination is flagged, even if your link is fine.
• The domain is new and unknown, which skews toward suspicious for a few weeks.
• A long redirect chain, which looks like phishing.

Test by sending the link to yourself across email, WhatsApp and whatever else you use. More detail in why short links get blocked.

5. It goes to the wrong destination

• Check the destination in your dashboard. Someone may have repointed it.
• Check for a chain. If the destination is itself a redirect, the final landing page may have changed without you touching anything.
• UTM parameters conflicting. If the destination already had parameters and the link adds more, behaviour can differ from what you expect.
• You reused an old link for a new campaign and it still points at the old target.

6. Works for you, not for others

The most confusing case, and usually one of:

• Cache. If the link was ever served as a 301, browsers may have cached the old destination permanently. This is the strongest argument for never using 301 on a shortener — see redirect types.
• Corporate network filtering blocking the shortener domain.
• Regional differences — the destination may be geo-restricted.
• In-app browser quirks. Some destinations behave badly inside app browsers.

Ask what they see, exactly. "It doesn't work" covers all six sections.

Preventing most of this

Own the domain. Use readable back-halves. One hop, no chains. Never delete a shared link — repoint it. And check any link you're about to print by actually typing it by hand from the proof.

Create links you control end to end — your own domain, editable destinations, no shared reputation.