# Shorten links in SMS campaigns Engage Studio lets you replace eligible URLs in an SMS message with shorter URLs. Shortened links help reduce message length and route recipients to the intended destination page. This page describes link shortening for SMS One-off and Always-On Campaigns. ## Prerequisites Before enabling link shortening, the following must be in place: * An SMS sender number has been provisioned and assigned to your workspace * Your Parent Segment includes a phone number column in E.164 format (e.g., `+12125551234`) * Consent filtering is applied at the segment or activation level to exclude opted-out recipients * Quiet Hours settings are configured for your audience's time zones * Your SMS activation includes the required `phone_number` output mapping * Your message includes one or more HTTPS URLs For general SMS setup instructions, see [SMS Channel](/products/marketing-cloud/engage-studio/channels/sms). ## Enabling link shortening 1. Open **Engage Studio**. 2. Navigate to your workspace settings by selecting **Engage Studio Configurations** in the top right of your screen. 3. Select your workspace. 4. Under **SMS links click tracking**, turn on the toggle and select **Save**. ![Engage Studio workspace settings showing the SMS links click tracking toggle](/assets/sms-workspace-link-click-tracking.965332fb74aeedc090ef64b26b03934447c4a713569c59d577b97ed7330a227a.e589f12c.webp) 5. Open an SMS One-off Campaign or Always-On Campaign, or create a new campaign. 6. Add an HTTPS destination URL to the message body. 7. Turn on **Enable link shortening and click tracking**. ![Engage Studio SMS campaign editor with link shortening and click tracking enabled](/assets/sms-campaign-link-shortening.fc25eace3a64013f08c8a7425272c7336b1823e65b7372561d483bb61cd47a52.e589f12c.webp) 8. Review the message preview and segment count. 9. Save and launch the campaign. The **Use TD shortened URL** setting is disabled by default. When the setting is disabled, URLs are sent unchanged. Important Short URLs are generated when the campaign is processed for delivery. Enabling the setting does not create a live short URL during message composition. ## How Link Shortening Works When the campaign is sent, Engage Studio: 1. Renders the SMS message for each recipient. 2. Finds eligible URLs in the rendered message. 3. Generates a unique short URL for each recipient and destination URL. 4. Saves the short URL and destination URL relationship. 5. Replaces the eligible URL in the SMS message. 6. Sends the SMS with the shortened URL. A shortened URL uses the following format: ```text https://{TD-short-domain}/{token} ``` Each recipient receives a unique short URL, even when recipients receive the same campaign and destination URL. ## URL eligibility Only HTTPS URLs are eligible for shortening. The following URLs remain unchanged: * HTTP URLs * Malformed URLs * URLs longer than 2,048 characters * URLs that already use the Treasure AI short-link domain (`*.t6e.ai`) * URLs pointing to `localhost` * URLs pointing to `*.localhost` * URLs pointing to `127.0.0.1` * URLs pointing to `::1` A maximum of five eligible URLs can be shortened in one message. URLs that are skipped remain unchanged and do not cause the SMS to fail. Skipped URLs do not count toward the five-URL limit. Note Engage Studio uses a Treasure AI-managed short-link domain. Customer-branded domains require separate domain configuration and are not covered on this page. ## Previewing shortened links The message preview displays a fixed-length placeholder short URL to communicate the expected impact on message length. For example: ```text https://{TD-short-domain}/xxxxxxxx ``` The placeholder is not a live link. It does not consume a short-link token or create a link record. The final short URL is generated separately for each recipient when the campaign is sent. ## Link expiration Shortened links expire 90 days after they are generated for delivery. After a link expires: * The link no longer redirects to the destination URL * Requests to the link return `404` * The short-link token is not assigned to another URL ## Link shortening and UTM tracking Link shortening and UTM tracking are separate features: * **Link shortening** replaces an eligible URL with a shorter URL. * **UTM tracking** adds campaign parameters to a destination URL for external analytics platforms such as Google Analytics or Adobe Analytics. You can use both features in the same SMS campaign. For more information, see [UTM Tracking](/products/marketing-cloud/engage-studio/channels/sms#utm-tracking) and [Track clicks in SMS campaigns](/products/marketing-cloud/engage-studio/channels/sms/track-clicks-in-sms-campaigns). Tip Review the SMS segment count after enabling link shortening or UTM tracking. Added URL content can increase the number of SMS segments and the cost of delivery. ## Troubleshooting ### The URL was not shortened Check that: 1. **Link Click Tracking** is enabled for the workspace. 2. **Use TD shortened URL** is enabled. 3. The campaign is an SMS One-off Campaign or Always-On Campaign. 4. The URL uses HTTPS. 5. The URL is not longer than 2,048 characters. 6. The URL is not a localhost or TD short-link URL. 7. The message contains no more than five eligible URLs. URLs that do not meet the eligibility rules remain unchanged. ### The preview shows a placeholder URL This is expected. The preview uses a fixed-length placeholder so that you can estimate the message length. A live short URL is generated only when the campaign is processed for delivery. ### The SMS uses more segments than expected Review: * The message text * Personalization values * Destination URL length * UTM tracking parameters * The number of URLs in the message * Whether the message contains Unicode characters GSM-7 messages support up to 160 characters per segment. Messages containing Unicode characters support up to 70 characters per segment. ### The shortened link returns `404` The link may be expired or invalid. Shortened links expire after 90 days. Confirm that the complete link was copied correctly and that it was generated within the expiration period.