Move to a new URL shortener without abandoning old links
Inventory published addresses, distinguish editable placements from printed copies, and plan a short-link migration without assuming old codes transfer.
Moving to another URL shortener gives you a new set of addresses. Your old service’s domain, codes, QR images and statistics don’t come with you. Before you replace the links you share from now on, plan how people with the old links will still reach useful content.
This guide uses a made-up club with a profile link, an old newsletter and printed welcome cards. Links gives each link its own new short address on reunified.link. There’s no bulk import, custom-domain move or automatic transfer from another provider, so this is a plan you carry out by hand.
Inventory addresses people already have
Start with the addresses people actually have, not just titles in a dashboard. For each one, write down the old short link, the final destination, where it was published, who owns it, any rules and the date you checked it. Scan a printed QR code you kept to see which address it contains.
Group the places by whether you can still change them. You can usually edit your own profile or website; you can’t change an email that was already sent or a card in someone’s wallet. Ask colleagues about places that are easy to forget, such as saved message templates and presentation slides. Anything you miss can turn into a surprise after the old service is shut down.
Decide what can remain reachable
For each old address, find out who controls its redirect and what the old provider allows. Creating a similar link somewhere else doesn’t keep the old code working.
| Where the link is | What to do |
|---|---|
| Profile or website you can edit | Replace the address after testing the new link |
| Newsletter already sent | Keep the old link leading somewhere useful for people still reading it |
| Printed card | Keep the address on it working, or reprint the card |
| Old address you don’t control | Ask its owner for help, or publish a new link where you can |
If the old provider lets you edit links, you may be able to point each old address straight to the current final page. Pointing an old short link to a new short link adds one more step that can break, so do it only when you have a clear reason and have tested it. Links can’t change an address published by another provider.
Create a small pilot in the right identity
Pick two or three typical links: a public information page, a document and, if you use routing, a link that really needs rules. Test each final destination while signed out before you create its new link in the Links app.
Choose the right identity or Your links, use titles you’ll recognize and write down each new short link next to the old one. Set up the rules you need again, one by one, and test what visitors who match no rule get. Don’t copy a rule’s name from another service and assume it works the same way. The routing guide explains the conditions Links supports and the order it checks them in.
Test the replacement and the retained address
For each test link, open both the old and the new address on a phone and a computer. Check that people get the promised content, can open it and can finish the task. If you have language or device rules, test a visitor who matches and one who doesn’t.
Check campaign parameters on the final page. Links sends visitors to the destination you saved and doesn’t pass on parameters added to the end of the short link, so put them in the destination; see the UTM guide. Write down the test date and any differences between the providers. Keep old and new statistics apart instead of treating them as one continuous count: each service may filter clicks differently.
Replace editable placements in a controlled order
Update one less important place first, then open the link from the real published page. For the club, that could be a resource link on its profile before the main invitation link. Keep a checklist of the places you’ve changed, checked and still need to do.
Save the old address so you can put it back if the new link fails. Don’t delete your links at the old service just because the new dashboard is ready. Keep an old printed card and test it separately: downloading a new QR image doesn’t change the code on cards already printed.
Retire services only after reviewing old usage
Pick review dates based on how long your materials stay around, not on the day you switched. Old emails and printed cards can stay in use long after you start promoting the new links. A low or zero click count doesn’t prove that nobody will use an old link again.
Check who pays to keep links working at both providers, and who will make future changes. In Links, counted clicks use credits, and if the shared credits run out, the links pause; see the cost plan. When you finally have to retire an address, update the notices you can still reach and write down what will stop working. Links can manage your new addresses; keeping the old ones working depends on still having access to the old service.