Zoom has no button that shortens a meeting link. To get a short one, copy the invite link from Zoom, paste it into a link shortener and choose the ending yourself, for example linx.ly/monday-yoga. It takes about a minute.
Look, the long link works. It just looks like a messy line of random letters and numbers, and the full invitation is longer still. One host asked about this on the Zoom Community, wanting to send students "just the link instead of lines and lines of useless information". This guide covers the steps, how to keep strangers out, and how to keep one short link when the Zoom link changes.
How to shorten a Zoom link
- In Zoom, open Meetings, select your meeting and copy the link under Join Zoom Meeting. If the meeting is already running, click Participants → Invite → Copy invite link.
- Paste the whole link into a URL shortener.
- Replace the random ending with words people can read, such as
linx.ly/math-classorlinx.ly/sales-webinar. - Save it and send the short link instead of the long one.
Anyone who taps the short link reaches the same Zoom meeting the long link leads to. Nothing changes for them. You get a name you can read, a QR code and a click count.
Why shorten your Zoom link?
Because your invite looks better, people can remember the link, and you stay in control of it after you share it.
- Your message stays clean. Copy invitation gives you a block of text with the time, the meeting number, the passcode and often dial-in numbers, and on a phone that fills the screen. Compare it with one line: "Class starts at 7: linx.ly/math-class". The second one reads like a message from a person.
- People can say it and remember it. Nobody can read a Zoom link aloud on a live stream.
linx.ly/sales-webinarthey can, and it is short enough for a bio or a story too. Here is where links actually work on Instagram if that is where you promote your webinars. - You can change where it goes. If the Zoom link changes, the short link you already shared can open the new meeting.
- You can see how many people opened it. A long Zoom link tells you nothing about that.
Honestly, if your colleagues get the meeting in their calendar and just click it, leave it alone. A short link earns its place once the link leaves the calendar.
Keep strangers out of your meeting
A short link does not change who can get in. Whoever has it gets the same access as with the long link, and an ending like linx.ly/team-meeting is easier to guess than a random one.
For anything shared in public, turn on Zoom's waiting room, so you decide when each person comes in. You will find it in the Zoom web portal under Settings → Meeting → Security. For a private call, make the ending less obvious, such as linx.ly/board-call-7k2. On the Pro plan you can also put a password or an expiry date on the short link itself, which suits a webinar that ends on a known day.
Tap the short link on your phone before you send it. What you see there is what your guests will see.
Keep the same short link when the Zoom link changes
Zoom links do not last forever. According to Zoom's own FAQ, a one-time meeting ID expires 30 days after its scheduled date, and a recurring one expires once you have gone 365 days without starting it. Each new webinar or course usually gets a new link anyway.
That hurts when the old link sits on a poster, in your email signature or in your bio. With a short link, you open its settings, paste the new Zoom link as the destination and save. linx.ly/monday-yoga now opens the new meeting, and nobody has to be told. You can do this as often as you like, on every Linxly plan.
The destination does not have to be Zoom at all. When the webinar is over, point the same link at the recording or the slides. If those sit in Dropbox, that link is just as long, so here is how to shorten a Dropbox link too.
For a group that meets every week, Zoom's No Fixed Time recurring meeting keeps one link for all sessions. Use it. The short link then gives that long link a name people remember.
Put it on a slide or poster, then count the clicks
Linxly creates a QR code automatically for every short link. Put it on a slide, a poster or a handout, and people join from their phone camera without typing anything. The code points to your short link, so it keeps working after the Zoom link changes. Adding your logo and brand colors takes the Pro plan. For print sizes, see how to make a QR code for a link.
A long Zoom link tells you nothing about how many people opened it. A short link counts its clicks and shows the country and device type, on every plan. Give your email list and your WhatsApp group separate short links and you will see which one brought people in. A click only means someone opened the link, not that they stayed for the whole session. The link click tracking guide explains what each click records.
Doesn't Zoom have its own short link?
Partly. Zoom offers a personal link, but only licensed users on Business, Education or Enterprise accounts can customize it. If you have one and always meet in your personal meeting room, it may be all you need.
Here is the catch: it belongs to that one room, and Zoom does not use it in meeting invitations. Your scheduled meetings and webinars keep their long links, and you cannot point the personal link somewhere else later.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Zoom have a link shortener?
No. The closest thing is the personal link on some paid accounts, so for a short link to any meeting, use a separate URL shortener such as Linxly.
Will people still need the passcode?
The short link opens the same link you pasted, so people join exactly as they would with the long one. If the long link asks for a passcode, the short one will too. Anyone dialing in by phone still needs the numbers from the full invitation.
Why won't my shortened Zoom link work?
Usually part of the link was cut off when you copied it, or the meeting was deleted or has expired in Zoom. Try the long link: if that fails too, schedule a new meeting and paste its link as the destination of your short link.
What happens to my short links if I cancel?
They keep working, and so do their QR codes. Changing the destination and collecting new click stats need an active plan.
How much does it cost?
Linxly starts at $0.99 a month, with 5 short links a month, custom endings, click stats and QR codes. There is a 7-day free trial, and you can cancel anytime.