How to Copy a Link Without Tracking Parameters (UTM)

To copy a link without tracking parameters, right-click the link in Firefox and choose its copy-without-tracking command (Copy Without Site Tracking in recent versions), or choose Copy clean link in Brave. Chrome and Microsoft Edge have no built-in equivalent: copy the address, then delete the tracking part, usually everything from ?utm_ or &fbclid= onward, keeping any parameters the page needs to load.

Windows itself doesn't clean links. Whatever text you copy is exactly what Ctrl+V pastes and what clipboard history stores.

What tracking parameters look like

Tracking parameters are extra key=value pairs added after a ? (and separated by &) so the site or advertiser can tell where a click came from:

https://example.com/article?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=june&fbclid=IwAR0abc123

The clean link is:

https://example.com/article

Common tracking keys include utm_source, utm_medium, utm_campaign, utm_term and utm_content (campaign tags), fbclid (Facebook), gclid (Google Ads), msclkid (Microsoft Advertising), and mc_cid and mc_eid (Mailchimp). Removing them doesn't change the page you land on.

Firefox: copy without site tracking

Firefox 120 added a context-menu command that copies a link with known tracking parameters removed. Firefox 126 extended it to links nested inside other links and to more than 300 tracking parameters.

1. Right-click a link on a page.
2. Choose Copy Without Site Tracking (labelled Copy Link Without Site Tracking in some versions).
3. Paste the link.

Firefox removes only parameters on its list. If a cleaned link still has a long query string, the remaining parts may be needed by the page or may be trackers Firefox doesn't recognize; check them by hand.

Brave: Copy clean link

Brave adds Copy clean link to the right-click menu for links, and you can also use it on the address bar. It removes known tracking parameters before copying. As with Firefox, it can't clean a shortened link (such as a bit.ly address) until you open it and copy the real address.

Chrome and Edge: clean the link by hand

1. Open the page so you're copying the real address, not a redirect.
2. Press Ctrl+L (or Alt+D) to select the address bar, then Ctrl+C.
3. Paste the link somewhere you can edit it, such as Notepad or the address bar itself.
4. Delete the tracking parameters. If every parameter is a tracker, delete from the ? to the end. If some are needed, delete only the tracking pairs and their & separators.
5. Press Enter in the address bar to check that the cleaned link still opens the right page, then copy it.

Microsoft Edge has a URL copy and paste format setting (Settings > Appearance > Browser behavior and features, under URL formatting) that chooses whether a copied address pastes as a titled Link or as Plain text. It changes how the link looks when pasted, not what's in it; tracking parameters stay either way. Copying links from Microsoft Edge covers that setting in full.

Browser extensions such as ClearURLs can strip parameters automatically. An extension that rewrites links can see every address you visit, so check its permissions and who maintains it before installing. Chrome extensions vs desktop clipboard managers covers the trade-offs.

Parameters you should keep

Some query parameters are what makes the link work. Don't strip these:

If a link breaks after cleaning, compare it with the original and put back the parameter you removed. An ending that starts with #:~:text= isn't tracking either: it's a link to highlighted text that scrolls the page to a quote.

Redirect links and wrapped links

Some links you copy aren't the destination at all:

• Email security wrappers. Microsoft 365 Safe Links rewrites links as https://...safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=.... The real address is the encoded value after url=. Open the link and copy the address from the browser instead of sharing the wrapper.
• Search and social redirects. Links copied from search results or social feeds can go through a redirect address. Click through and copy from the address bar.
• Short links. A shortened link hides the full address, tracking included. Open it, then copy and clean the real address.

Clean links and clipboard history

If Windows clipboard history is on, both the original and the cleaned link end up in Win+V. Pasting the wrong one is easy, so delete the long version: press Win+V, select See more (...) next to it and choose Delete. If you use clipboard sync, remember that synced text is sent to your other devices exactly as copied.

Writers and researchers who keep a list of sources can find a fuller workflow in how to cite quotes, URLs and page numbers. If the link came from a screenshot, copy it out first with how to copy text from an image, then clean it.

FAQ

Does removing UTM parameters break the link?

No. utm_ parameters are only read by analytics tools. The page loads the same without them. Other parameters can matter, so remove only the ones you recognize as tracking.

Can Windows remove tracking parameters automatically?

No. Windows doesn't change what you copy. Browser features and extensions are the usual route; some clipboard managers can also run a script on each copy, as described in when CopyQ commands beat any shelf.

Does Right-click > Copy link give a cleaner link than the address bar?

Not necessarily. Copy link copies the address written into the page, which is often the tracked version. The address bar shows where you actually are. Right-click copy vs Ctrl+C explains how the two differ.

Related reading

• How to Remove Hidden Characters From Copied Text
• How to Note Page Numbers and URLs When Copying Quotes
• How to Keep a Quote Together With Its Source URL
• Right-Click Copy vs Ctrl+C: Is There a Difference?

Sources

• Firefox 120.0 release notes (Mozilla) — Copy Link Without Site Tracking added to the context menu.
• Firefox 126.0 release notes (Mozilla) — Copy Without Site Tracking handles nested URLs and over 300 parameters.
• Improved copy and paste of URLs in Microsoft Edge (Microsoft Support) — Link versus Plain text paste format and where to change it.
• Using the clipboard (Microsoft Support) — deleting items from clipboard history and text sync.

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