Disable a Short Link Without Deleting It

Sometimes a link needs to stop working right now: an offer ended early, a page went down, or a link was shared somewhere it shouldn't have been. Deleting it is permanent and throws away the clicks you collected. SendURL gives you a switch instead, on every plan.

What disabling does

A disabled link stops redirecting. Anyone who opens it, or scans its QR code, sees a "Link not found" page saying the short link doesn't exist or may have been removed, and the request answers with HTTP status 404. No click is recorded and nothing counts toward the link's visit capacity.

Everything else is kept:

• The slug stays yours, so nobody else can take it
• The QR code stays the same, ready for when you switch the link back on
• The click history stays, and so do the charts
• The destination, title, expiry and password stay as they were

Enabling the link restores it exactly as it was, and it works again within seconds.

How to disable or enable a link

1. 1.
   In the console, open Links and choose a link to open its page.
2. 2.
   Choose Disable at the top of the page, beside Copy link and Open.
3. 3.
   Confirm in the dialog. It reminds you that the short link stops redirecting, and every printed copy of its QR code stops working, until you enable it again.
4. 4.
   To bring the link back, open the same page and choose Enable.

A disabled link shows an Inactive badge on its page, and its QR card warns that scans will see the not-found page.

One combination to watch: if you enable a link whose expiry has passed, it's enabled but still expired. The console tells you so, and visitors keep seeing the "Link expired" page until you set a later expiry or remove it. See Link expiry and visit limits.

With the API, send PATCH /links/:id with active set to false to disable a link, and to true to enable it:

curl -X PATCH https://api.sendurl.to/api/v1/links/LINK_ID \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $SENDURL_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"active": false}'

Disable or delete?

The console has no delete button, on purpose. Deleting a link removes it and all its clicks for good, and frees its slug for anyone to register. If that slug is printed on anything, the next owner's link is what your QR codes will open.

The API can still delete a link with DELETE /links/:id when you really mean it, for example to clean up test links. For anything that was ever shared, disabling is almost always better. Its only cost is that a disabled link still counts toward your workspace's link limit.

Disable or expire?

Disabling is manual and immediate. An expiry is scheduled: you pick a date and time in advance and the link stops on its own. Use expiry for things with a known end, such as a sale or a registration window, and the switch for everything unplanned.

Visitors see different pages too. A disabled link says "Link not found" (404), while an expired one says "Link expired" (410). Neither records a click. Why the codes differ is in how URL shorteners work.

What moderation means

SendURL reviews reports of abuse, such as phishing, malware or impersonation, sent through the grievance page. When a link breaks the rules, it is disabled by moderation. If you've come across a suspicious short link, are short links safe? shows how to see where it goes without opening it.

For visitors, a moderated link behaves like any disabled link: they see the not-found page. For the owner there are two differences:

• It can't be enabled again. Its page says "This link was disabled by moderation and can't be re-enabled", and the Enable button is gone. The API refuses to enable it with 403 link_moderated.
• It can't be deleted either. Deleting would free the slug, so the same short link, and every QR code printed with it, could simply come back.

If you think one of your links was moderated by mistake, write to us using the contact details on the grievance page.

Quick reference

• Disable: link page, Disable, confirm. Visitors get "Link not found" (404) and no click is counted.
• Enable: link page, Enable. The link works again within seconds.
• Delete: API only, permanent, and the slug becomes free for anyone.
• Moderated: stays off, and can't be enabled or deleted.