How to See Where an Internet Link Goes Before Clicking It

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By desolator144
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One of the best tips for internet security is to check where a link goes before clicking on it. Many viruses use browser security flaws to infect you simply from visiting a website. You don’t have to download or install anything to catch it, it just jumps onto your computer! So don’t go around clicking blind anymore. It’s time to start checking links before you click them if you’re suspicious of where it leads. Here’s how:

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Step 1

The first and most common way to check where an internet link (also known as a hyperlink) is going is to hover over it with the cursor. The location the link is leading to is most commonly displayed in the bottom left corner of a program when you do this. This works for most e-mail programs as well as most internet browsers. In most Microsoft software like Internet Explorer 8 for example, if there is no bar on the bottom of the program telling you where links point to, click on the View menu then click Toolbars then Status bar.
Step 2

If the program you’re using has no status bar, you may have to try another technique. There is also a specific javascript code that websites can use to jam up the status with other text to hide where a link is going. That’s a really bad sign in itself that indicates the site is hiding something dangerous but either way, it’s possible to get around it. What you need to do in that case is first open any program that can accept pasted-in text like Notepad, Wordpad, or Microsoft Word.
Step 3

Now go back to the internet window with the link in question and right click on the link.
Step 4

In the menu that pops up when you right click, there should be an option that says copy shortcut. Click on it.
Step 5

Now switch back to your text program and hold the control key then hit the V key. This is the shortcut for pasting whatever has been copied. The URL for the link you just copied should show up now.
Step 6

The most important step is the final one. Now that you know where the link goes, don’t click it if the address doesn’t seem like what you were expecting or if it looks at all suspicious.

Comments

greatgreat8 said

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on 11/4/2009 this is great information, thanks 5*

YourFutureBoss said

on 11/3/2009 That's awesome. I had no idea you could do that. Great job 5*.

diane2016 said

on 10/26/2009 Your article just saved me some grief. I received an email to "reactivate" my Paypal account. I had no idea why I received the email since we are paid through Paypal so it is already active. Guess what? The link does not go to Paypal. Thank you so much for writing this article.