Want short links for your WordPress posts and pages to share easily via email, Facebook, or SMS? This built-in feature was available until WordPress 4.4. Many site owners miss it, and we've helped countless users bring it back. Follow this expert guide to restore the Get Shortlink button.
The Get Shortlink button lets you generate a compact URL for any post or page directly from the editor, right next to the permalink field.
Newer WordPress installs lack this option, as it was removed after version 4.4.
These short links are practical and clean, like: https://wpbeg.in/2csN1pj
Here's how to restore it on your site.
This straightforward approach suits most users and supports branded custom short URLs.
Install and activate the WP Bitly plugin. See our step-by-step guide on how to install a plugin in WordPress.
Activation instantly adds the Get shortlink button to your post editor.
Click it to reveal and copy the short link, ready for emails or messages.
WP Bitly also enables custom short links, like those we use at WPBeginner. Check our step-by-step guide on how to create your own custom short url in WordPress.
This requires editing code. If new to this, review our guide on how to copy and paste code into WordPress.
Add this snippet to your theme's functions.php file or a site-specific plugin:
add_filter( 'get_shortlink', function( $shortlink ) {
return $shortlink;
} );This activates the shortlink filter, displaying the Get shortlink button on posts and pages.
Click to retrieve your post or page's short link.
We hope this helped restore the Get Shortlink button in WordPress. Explore our list of WordPress plugins for business websites.
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