Turtle Torial

1Make a short link

Turn a long web address into a short one.

1. Go to shortturtle.com/links and sign in with your email and password.
2. Find the box called Create a short link at the top of the page.
3. Under Your link will work on, shrtl.us is picked for you: it's the main address to share. Every link also works on shortturtle.us. You can pick srtl.us or sh7.us instead if your plan has them. The picked address turns green. You can turn on the others later from the link's card.
4. Paste the long address into the first box, for example example.com/long-page.
5. Advanced and up: to choose your own ending, type it in custom short code (for example bakesale; Advanced needs 6 or more characters, Pro and Business 4 or more). Leave it empty to get a random code like k7Rm2q.
6. Optional: pick a date under Expires if the link should stop working after a certain day.
7. Press Shorten. A Your link is ready panel opens with the link (already copied), a big QR code and buttons to Share, Copy NFC or send it to your phone.

On a phone, the Paste button next to the box fills in whatever you last copied, and More options shows the custom short code and expiry date.

Short links can only point to approved sites. If yours is refused, see If a site isn't approved yet.

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2Choose which addresses a link works on

Every link works on more than one address. Under Your short links, each link has one row per address.

1. Find the link under Your short links. Use Search links if you have a lot.
2. Look at its address rows. The shortturtle.us row is marked Always on and can't be turned off. Addresses that are turned off are hidden: press Show turned-off addresses under the rows to see them.
3. To turn shrtl.us, srtl.us or sh7.us on or off for this link, press Turn on or Turn off on that row. On a phone, tap the switch.
4. A row marked Upgrade is an address your plan doesn't include yet.
5. To pick which address is copied right after you make a link, choose it in Copy button uses above your links. That address is tagged default.

Turning off one address stops only that address, including any QR codes and NFC tags made from it. The link's other addresses keep working.

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3Share a link: Copy URL, Copy NFC and QR

Every address row has the same buttons, lined up in columns.

1. Find the row for the address you want to share, for example shrtl.us/k7Rm2q.
2. For emails, texts and posts: press Copy URL, then paste it where you need it.
3. For an NFC tag: press Copy NFC. This copies the address with ?nfc on the end so tag taps are counted on their own. Then follow Write an NFC tag.
4. For a QR code: press QR. Choose Turtle in the middle, Count scans and a Color, then press Download PNG (for print and slides) or Download SVG (scales to any size).
5. To try the link yourself, press Open. It opens in a new tab.

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4Use Short Turtle on your phone

My links works like an app on a phone: a tab bar along the bottom (Create, My links, Stats, Account), compact link cards and one-tap sharing.

1. Put it on your Home Screen. iPhone: open shortturtle.com/links in Safari, tap the Share button, then Add to Home Screen. Android: open it in Chrome and tap Install when My links offers it (or ⋮ → Add to Home screen).
2. Sign in with Face ID or your fingerprint. Open the account menu → Passkeys → Add a passkey, enter your password once and confirm on your phone. Next time, tap Sign in with a passkey (or pick it when you tap the email box). See Passkeys.
3. Share a link. Each link card shows Copy, Share and QR & more. Share opens your phone's share sheet (Messages, AirDrop, Mail and so on). Tap a card to see all its addresses and options.
4. Make a link from another app (Android). After installing Short Turtle on your Home Screen, use Share in Chrome or any app and pick Short Turtle. My links opens with the address filled in; press Shorten.
5. Make a link from another app (iPhone). Set up the Shortcut in Shorten from the iPhone share sheet (Advanced and up).
6. On a computer? Press Share on a link and then Send to my phone. Scan the code with your phone's camera and the link opens there, ready to share or write to a tag.

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5Passkeys: sign in with Face ID or a fingerprint

A passkey lets your phone or computer sign you in after a glance or a touch (Face ID, Touch ID, a fingerprint, Windows Hello or the device PIN). It's safer than a password: it can't be guessed, reused or typed into a fake site, so it also takes the place of your two-factor code.

1. Sign in at shortturtle.com/links on the phone or computer you want to use.
2. Open the account menu (your initials at the top, or Account on a phone) and choose Passkeys.
3. Press Add a passkey, type your password and press Continue.
4. Confirm with Face ID, your fingerprint or the device PIN. Your passkey is listed with the device's name.
5. Next time, press Sign in with a passkey on the sign-in page. On many phones, tapping the email box also offers it.
6. Lost a device? Open Passkeys on another one and press Remove next to it.

Passkeys saved in iCloud Keychain or Google Password Manager follow you to your other devices. Resetting your password removes all your passkeys, in case someone else added one. We email you whenever a passkey is added.

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6Shorten from the iPhone share sheet

An Apple Shortcut can make a Short Turtle link from any app's Share button. It uses an API key, so it needs Advanced, Pro or Business.

1. In shortturtle.com/links, open the account menu → API keys. Name a key iPhone Shortcut, choose read + write and press Create key. Copy the key (it starts with sk_); it's shown only once.
2. Open the Shortcuts app, tap + and name the shortcut Shorten with Short Turtle.
3. Tap the name at the top → Details, turn on Show in Share Sheet, and set the types it receives to URLs and Safari web pages.
4. Add the action Get Contents of URL. Set the URL to https://shortturtle.com/v1/links, tap Show More, set Method to POST, add a header Authorization with the value Bearer sk_… (your key), and set Request Body to JSON with one field: url = Shortcut Input.
5. Add Get Dictionary Value, set the key to short_url.
6. Add Copy to Clipboard, then Show Notification (or Share) with the Dictionary Value.
7. Try it: in Safari, tap Share → Shorten with Short Turtle. The short link is copied, ready to paste.

Treat the key like a password: anyone with it can make links in your account. If your phone is lost, revoke the key in My links → API keys. Sites that aren't approved yet are requested for you, the same as on the website.

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7Write an NFC tag

An NFC tag is a small sticker or card that opens your link when someone holds a phone to it. You need a blank NFC tag (NTAG213, NTAG215 or NTAG216 all work) and a phone with NFC: any iPhone 7 or newer, or most Android phones.

1. On your phone, go to shortturtle.com/links and sign in. Doing this on the phone saves you from moving the address over from a computer.
2. Find your link and press Copy NFC on the address row you want. A note under the row confirms it was copied.
3. Android with Chrome: press Share (or QR & more) on the link, then Write NFC tag, and hold the tag to the middle of the back of the phone. That's it; skip the rest of these steps. iPhones can't write tags from a website, so on an iPhone carry on below.
4. Install a free NFC writing app if you don't have one. These steps use NFC Tools (App Store or Google Play).
5. Open NFC Tools and tap Write at the top.
6. Tap Add a record, then tap URL / URI.
7. Tap the text box, then tap and hold and choose Paste. Check that it ends with ?nfc, then tap OK.
8. Tap Write (it shows the size, like "Write / 30 Bytes").
9. When the app says it's ready, hold the tag against the top edge of an iPhone, or the middle of the back of most Android phones. Keep it still until the app says the tag was written.
10. Test it: put the app away, unlock your phone and hold it to the tag again. Your link should pop up. The tap shows in My links as a tap.

A tag keeps working as long as the link and that address stay on. If you turn the address off, delete the link or it expires, the tag stops working. Avoid the app's "lock tag" option unless you're sure: a locked tag can never be rewritten.

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8Set an expiry date

Make a link stop working after a certain day.

1. Find the link under Your short links and press More.
2. Press Expiry.
3. Pick the last day the link should work on the calendar, or tap 1 week, 30 days, 90 days or End of year.
4. Check the summary line under the buttons, then press Save.
5. To remove an expiry date later, open More → Expiry again and press No end date.

The link stops working at the end of that day on every address, including its QR codes and NFC tags. Visitors see "This link has expired." Links with no visits, scans, taps or edits for 183 days (over 6 months) also stop working; see Questions and answers.

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9See your stats

Every link shows its total clicks on the right, with QR scans and NFC taps underneath.

1. Find the link under Your short links and press Stats. A Stats page for that link opens.
2. Pick a time range at the top: 7 days, 30 days, 90 days or 1 year.
3. Read the totals at the top, then scroll down for the charts. Hover over (or tap) a day on the chart to see its count.
4. Pro and Business: press Export every click for one row per click with everything we record, or Export summary for the totals.

What you see depends on your plan:

• Free: total clicks, scans and taps.
• Advanced: clicks per day and where clicks come from (Direct, QR code, NFC tag, Social and Other websites).
• Pro: everything above, plus estimated unique visitors, referring sites and pages, the short address used, places, devices, browsers and apps, a day-and-hour chart and insights.

Bots and link previews aren't counted. Unique visitors are estimated without cookies. We never store exact locations, only the city.

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10Change where a link goes, or turn it off

Advanced and Pro plans can change a link after it's made. The short link, QR codes and NFC tags stay the same.

1. Find the link under Your short links.
2. To send it somewhere new: press Edit, type the new address in the box and press OK.
3. To pause it: press More, then Disable. Visitors see This link was disabled by the user.
4. To bring it back: press More, then Enable.
5. To remove it for good: press More, then Delete, and confirm. This can't be undone, and the code stops working on every address.

If you move a busy link (15 or more clicks) to a different site, it pauses until a person checks the new site.

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11Make your Short Turtle vCard

A Short Turtle vCard is a short link that saves your contact details straight into the visitor's phone. Free includes 3, Advanced 3, Pro 12 and Business unlimited. Free vCards include a small "Get your vCard" link to Short Turtle.

1. In Create a short link, tap the vCard tab.
2. Fill in the details you want to share (name, company, phone, email and so on). Add a Photo if you like.
3. Already have a contact file? Open Or upload an existing .vcf file and choose it instead.
4. Optional: type a custom short code, like jared.
5. Press Create vCard link. On a phone the form comes in three short steps (You, Work, Address): press Next to move on, and use Take photo or Choose photo for your picture. When it's made, a big QR code appears so someone can scan it from your screen.
6. Share it like any link: Copy URL, a QR code or Copy NFC for a tag. When someone opens it on a phone, it offers Add to Contacts.
7. To change your vCard later, press Edit on it, update the details and save. The short link and QR code stay the same.

On the Free plan, your vCard always shows your account name and email. Tick Hide my email on my vCard to leave the email off; every other detail is yours to fill in. If you move to a plan with fewer vCards, your cards keep working but can't be changed.

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12Got a Short Turtle card? Adopt your turtle

Short Turtle cards have a QR code on the back, and some have a turtle sticker you can tap with your phone. A card that's waiting for a home becomes yours, free: it opens your Short Turtle vCard, so anyone who scans or taps it gets your contact info.

1. Point your phone's camera at the QR code on the back of the card, or tap the turtle sticker.
2. Press Adopt this turtle. Already have a Short Turtle account? Press I already have an account and sign in instead.
3. Enter your email (and, if someone sent you, their name or referral code). We hold your turtle for 72 hours and email you a link, with a friendly reminder each day.
4. Open the link, choose a password, then set up your Short Turtle vCard and press Save and turn on my card.
5. Try it: scan or tap your card. To change what it shows later, edit your vCard in My links. The card follows along.

Each card has its turtle number in small print (like #B1-0042). In My links, your vCard shows opens from card B1-0042.

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13Invite friends

Short Turtle is invite-only, and members bring people in. Free accounts have 2 invites, Advanced 5, Pro 10 and Business 30. Someone you invite signs up right away, and you get referral credit when they pay.

1. Open My links and find the Invites card. It shows how many invites you have left.
2. Press Invite someone. Add a name so you remember who it's for (only you see it), and their email if you'd like us to send it.
3. Press Make invite, then Copy the link and text or email it. Each link works for one person.
4. When they open it and enter their email, we send them a link to choose a password. The card shows used by their name once they've joined.
5. Changed your mind? Press Cancel on an invite that hasn't been used and you get it back.

Your referral link also works as an invite while you have invites left: each person who uses it takes one. Rather hand them out yourself? Untick Let my referral link use my invites. Invites nobody uses expire after 30 days and come back to you.

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14If a short code isn't available

Some codes are kept off-limits so nobody can pretend to be someone else or post something offensive:

• Words like support, login or admin, and look-alikes such as supp0rt.
• Names of popular websites, well-known brands and registered US trademarks.
• Swear words and slurs.
• All 1-3 character codes and ordinary dictionary words. These are premium codes, kept for later.

1. Read the message under the Shorten button. It says why the code was refused.
2. Try a variation: add your name, a place or a number, like jared-bakesale or sale2026.
3. Or clear the box and press Shorten to get a random code.

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15If a site isn't approved yet

Short links can only point to sites on our approved list. Asking for a new one is quick.

1. Press Shorten as usual. If the site isn't approved, it's requested for you automatically and the message says so.
2. Or ask ahead of time: scroll down My links to Domain requests, type the site (like example.com), add why you need it if you like, and press Request.
3. Watch the Status column in Domain requests. An automatic review looks at the site first. Provisional approval means it passed and you can use it right away. Not approved automatically means it didn't pass, but a person will still look at it. Either way, a person makes the final decision.
4. Once it's approved, go back to Create a short link and press Shorten again.

Sites less than six months old always need a person to approve them. If a person doesn't approve a site that had provisional approval, links to it stop working.

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16Check a link before you open it

Anyone can do this, with or without an account.

1. Take any Short Turtle link and add + to the end, like shrtl.us/abc123+.
2. Open it. You'll see where the link goes and its safety checks, without being sent there.
3. If something looks wrong, press Report this link on that page.

More on how we keep links safe.

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17Moved your website? Redirect the old domain

Pro Plus (one domain) and Business (every domain). When a company moves its website to a new domain, the old addresses (old blog posts, pages, links in old emails) still get visitors. Short Turtle can answer the old domain for you, so you don't have to keep paying for the old web host just to run redirects. It works like the WordPress Redirection plugin.

1. Before you start: if the old site runs the Redirection plugin, export it first. In WordPress go to Tools → Redirection → Import/Export and export Everything as JSON. If you can, also export the 404 log as CSV.
2. In shortturtle.com/links, open Your domains and add the old domain (for example oldcompany.com). Read the warnings: the old website and all email at that domain stop working once it points to Short Turtle.
3. At the company where the old domain is registered, change its nameservers to the two Short Turtle shows you. Turn off DNSSEC there first if it's on.
4. When the domain says connected, open the Redirects tab at the top of My links, then Settings. Type your new website (for example https://www.newcompany.com) and press Save. Short Turtle reads its sitemap.
5. Leave Send to the same address on the new site on. Pages whose address didn't change (like /about/) then work with no setup: Short Turtle checks the new site has the page first.
6. Go to Import / Export, choose the file you exported, press Check file, look over the list, then press Import.
7. Add any other redirects under Redirects: the old address (like /2019/05/old-post/) and the new one (/blog/new-post/ or a full address).
8. Over the next days, open 404s. These are old addresses that found nothing. Press Find suggestions and Short Turtle looks for the matching page on your new site (and can ask AI about the hard ones). Press Use this on a good match, or Make redirect to type your own.

In Settings, Is anyone still using the old domain? shows visits per week. Keep the old domain registered while people still arrive: when it expires, every old link stops working.

Tell Google about the move: in Google Search Console use Change of address on the old domain.

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18Ask Claude or ChatGPT about your links

On Advanced, Pro and Business you can connect an AI app to Short Turtle and ask things like "Which of my QR codes got the most scans this month?" or "Make a short link to my new menu." Full details and privacy: shortturtle.com/ai.

1. Claude: open Settings, then Connectors. Press Add, then Add custom connector.
2. Name it Short Turtle and paste this address: https://shortturtle.com/v1/mcp. Press Add, then Connect.
3. A Short Turtle page opens. Sign in (with your two-factor code if you use one).
4. Want it to make links for you too? Tick Also let it make new short links. Leave it off for look-only.
5. Press Allow. Back in Claude, turn on Short Turtle in a chat's tools menu and ask away.
6. ChatGPT: in Settings, then Apps & Connectors, turn on Developer mode under Advanced settings, press Create, use the same address and choose OAuth. Then follow steps 3 to 5.
7. To disconnect, open My links and press Disconnect under Connected AI apps.

An app can never change, turn off or delete your links, and we never see your chats.

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19Your account: profile, email and password

Open the account menu (your initials, top right; on a phone, Account at the bottom) and choose Account and profile.

1. Profile: fill in whatever you'd like to share: company, title, phone, mailing address, birthday, website and social profiles (paste the address, or just your @name). All of it is optional, and only you and the Short Turtle team can see it. Press Save profile.
2. Make a vCard from my profile fills in a new Short Turtle vCard for you. Check it, then press Create vCard link.
3. Email: type the new address and your password (and your two-factor code if it's on), then press Send a confirmation link. Open the email we send to the new address and press the button. Nothing changes until you do.
4. For your safety, your old address gets a notice right away and then once a day for 5 days. If it wasn't you, press No, I didn't request this in any of them: we put your old email back and freeze the account for 72 hours. Your links keep working. When the freeze ends, choose a new password with Forgot password? and turn on two-factor sign-in.
5. You can change your email twice a year. Need it sooner? Write to support@shortturtle.us.
6. Password: type your current password and a new one (12 characters or more). Your other devices are signed out.

On a phone, some tools live on the desktop site only (your team, your domains, API keys, AI apps, Redirects, the link manager, campaign tools and import). Open shortturtle.com/links on a computer to use them.

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20Questions and answers

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21Plans at a glance

See prices. Short Turtle is invite-only: ask someone who uses it for an invite.

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