ClearURLs

ClearURLs

Remove tracking elements from URLs.

ClearURLs promo image
What is ClearURLs?

ClearURLs is an Edge add-on by kroeb. This add-on has 28,365 weekly active users, a good user rating of 4.50, and is most similar to Weather365 and Automatic 4K/HD for Youtube. The latest version, 1.26.0, was updated 6 months ago.

Stats
Stats date:
By: kroeb
Rating: 4.50 (33)
Version: 1.26.0 (Last updated: 2022-11-18)
Creation date: 2021-12-28
Manifest version: 2
Permissions:
  • <all_urls>
  • webRequest
  • webRequestBlocking
  • storage
  • unlimitedStorage
  • contextMenus
  • webNavigation
  • tabs
  • downloads
Size: 856.40K
Risk impact: Very high risk impact
Risk likelihood: Moderate risk likelihood

Other platforms

ClearURLs
ClearURLs (v1.26.0)
155 127,739
ClearURLs
ClearURLs (v1.26.1)
643 137,900
Summary
This extension will automatically remove tracking elements from URLs to help protect your privacy when browsing through the Internet.

Many websites use tracking elements in the URL (e.g. https://example.com?utm_source=newsletter1&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=sale)  to mark your online activity. All that tracking code is not necessary for a website to be displayed or work correctly and can therefore be removed—that is exactly what ClearURLs does. 

Another common example are Amazon URLs. If you search for a product on Amazon you will see a very long URL, such as https://www.amazon.com/dp/exampleProduct/ref=sxin_0_pb?__mk_de_DE=ÅMÅŽÕÑ&keywords=tea&pd_rd_i=exampleProduct&pd_rd_r=8d39e4cd-1e4f-43db-b6e7-72e969a84aa5&pd_rd_w=1pcKM&pd_rd_wg=hYrNl&pf_rd_p=50bbfd25-5ef7-41a2-68d6-74d854b30e30&pf_rd_r=0GMWD0YYKA7XFGX55ADP&qid=1517757263&rnid=2914120011

Indeed most of the above URL is tracking code. Once ClearURLs has cleaned the address, it will look like this:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/exampleProduct

Why use this extension as opposed to similar ones?
Most other “link cleaners” employ about a dozen rules when looking for tracking parameters to remove. ClearURLs utilizes over 250 rules, so its capabilities are more comprehensive.
And ClearURLs is open source, so everyone can join the project and/or can check the source code to error or malicious code.

All functions in a nutshell
* Removes tracking from URLs automatically in the background
See more
User reviews
Отсутствует возможность добавлять свои правила, так что зачастую мусор пропускается, в частности элементы ext=... и from=...
by Олег, 2023-02-07

Would be great if we could whitelist some domains. Because we cannot, I was obliged to disable it completely. Too bad.
by Marc, 2022-11-04

One of the must-haves for maintaining privacy.
by Violet, 2022-07-09
View all user reviews
Safety
Risk impact

ClearURLs requires a lot of risky permissions and is not safe to use. Avoid installing this add-on unless you absolutely trust this publisher.

Risk impact measures the level of extra permissions an extension has access to. A low risk impact extension cannot do much harms, whereas a high risk impact extension can do a lot of damage like stealing your password, bypass your security settings, and access your personal data. High risk impact extensions are not necessarily malicious. However, if they do turn malicious, they can be very harmful.

Risk likelihood

ClearURLs is probably trust-worthy. Prefer other publishers if available. Exercise caution when installing this add-on.

Risk likelihood measures the probability that an Edge add-on may turn malicious. This is determined by the publisher and the Edge add-on reputation on Edge Add-on Store, the amount of time the Edge add-on has been around, and other signals about the Edge add-on. Our algorithms are not perfect, and are subject to change as we discover new ways to detect malicious extensions. We recommend that you always exercise caution when installing an Edge add-on, especially ones with higher risk impact and/or higher risk likelihood.

Subscribe to the premium plan to see more risk analysis details
Screenshots
Promo images
ClearURLs marquee promo image
Marquee promo image
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