How to remove tracking from links you copy on a Mac
Links from newsletters, ads and social apps often end in a long tail like ?utm_source=newsletter&fbclid=…. Those parameters don't change the page you see. They tell the site, and anyone you share the link with, where it came from.
Updated
What tracking parameters are
| Parameter | Added by |
|---|---|
| utm_source, utm_medium, utm_campaign… | Marketing emails, newsletters and campaigns |
| fbclid | Links opened from Facebook |
| gclid, gbraid, wbraid | Google Ads |
| msclkid | Microsoft Ads |
| igshid, igsh | Instagram shares |
| si | YouTube and Spotify share links |
| mc_eid, mc_cid | Mailchimp emails |
In Safari
Right-click a link and choose Copy Link Without Tracking, where Safari offers it. Private Browsing windows also remove known trackers from links automatically.
Every app, automatically, with Maclip
Maclip cleans every link the moment you copy it, in any browser or app. The clipboard itself gets the clean link, so a plain ⌘V pastes it without trackers, and your history keeps the clean version too.
- Only known trackers are removed. Every other parameter stays exactly as it was, byte for byte.
- A link inside a longer piece of text is left alone.
- To clean a link that's already in a document, select it, right-click and choose Services → Remove Link Tracking.
- It all happens on your Mac, and you can turn it off in Settings → Privacy. See how link cleaning works.
Questions
Is it safe to remove utm_source from a link?
Yes. UTM parameters only tell the site's analytics where a visit came from. The page loads the same without them.
What does fbclid mean in a link?
It's a Facebook click identifier, added when a link is opened from Facebook so the visit can be tied back to it. Removing it doesn't change the page.