Getting Started

Once you've created an account and logged into Shortly, you'll land on your personal Dashboard. Here, you can create and manage your entire portfolio of short links.

Creating a Short Link

To create a new short link:

1. Navigate to the Links section in your sidebar.
2. Click the Create Link button.
3. Paste your long, complicated Destination URL.
4. (Optional) Provide a Custom Alias. If you leave this blank, Shortly will automatically generate a collision-resistant 7-character string for you.
5. Click Create.

Your new short link is instantly active across our global edge network.

Using Custom Aliases

A custom alias allows you to create memorable links. For example, setting your alias to summer-sale will result in short.ly/summer-sale.

Note: Custom aliases must be unique across the platform. If someone else has already claimed an alias on the shared short.ly domain, you will need to pick another one, or connect your own Custom Domain.

Generating QR Codes

For every link you create, Shortly can automatically generate a high-quality QR code.

1. Navigate to the QR Codes section in your dashboard.
2. Select any active link from your portfolio.
3. Download the QR code as a PNG or SVG.

QR codes are incredibly useful for physical marketing materials, presentations, and events. Because they point to your Shortly link, you still get all the benefits of our real-time analytics!