Media
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Description
Shows the real URL behind Google's goto redirects and replaces the breadcrumb with the actual address. Google no longer shows you where a search result goes. Two things get in the way. The address under each result was replaced by a breadcrumb trail – "example.com › blog › post" – and since August 2026 the link itself points at a redirect, google.com/goto?url=CAES..., instead of the site. Unmask URL puts the real URL back. WHAT IT DOES • Replaces the breadcrumb with the actual address, on every result • Resolves the /goto redirect so you see the true destination • Repairs the link itself, so hover preview, right-click copy and middle-click all give you the real address instead of the redirector • Stops long URLs being cut off with an ellipsis • Optionally strips the hidden "ping" tag Google uses to record which result you clicked • Hover any result for a one-click Copy URL button WHO IT IS FOR Anyone auditing search results: SEOs checking which page ranks, researchers recording sources, developers debugging redirects, and anyone who simply wants to know where a link goes before clicking it. HOW THE REDIRECT IS RESOLVED – AND THE TRADE-OFF The /goto token is signed and opaque. It is not an encoding of the destination, so no extension can decode it on your computer. The only way to learn where a result points is to ask Google's redirector and read its answer without following it. That means revealing a redirected link requires one request to Google for that link. Nothing is sent anywhere else, and nothing is sent to the developer. You choose how much of that happens: • "Show every URL straight away" (default) – one lookup per redirected result • "Show a URL when I point at it" – a lookup only for links you hover Direct links that are not redirect-wrapped need no lookup at all. PRIVACY No accounts. No analytics. No telemetry. No server. Nothing is collected, transmitted or sold, and the developer receives no data of any kind. Your settings live in Chrome's own storage. Resolved links are cached in memory only and are erased when you close the browser – nothing about the pages you viewed is written to disk. Unmask URL runs on Google search pages only. It exits immediately on Gmail, Drive, Docs and every other Google service, and it never runs on any other website. CONTROL Set it to run only when you click: chrome://extensions → Unmask URL → Site access → turn off "Automatically allow access on the following sites". Unmask URL then stays dormant until you click it, and it acts on the page you are already looking at without needing a reload.