How Do You Check a Link Without Clicking?
Inspect the destination, and use a known route when you are unsure.
Free video lesson · 1:11
How Do You Check a Link Without Clicking?
Phishing Awareness for Beginners
Music: “Thinking Music” by Kevin MacLeod. Creative Commons Attribution 4.0.
Inspect the destination, and use a known route when you are unsure.
Read the video transcript
A link has two parts you may see: the words on the page and the address it opens. Those can be different. A button saying school portal could lead somewhere else.
On a computer, hold the pointer over the link without clicking. Many browsers show its destination near the bottom. This lets you inspect an address without opening that page.
For this made-up example, your school uses school dot example. A message points to school dash help dot example. These are different addresses. Adding a familiar word does not make them the same site.
Long or shortened addresses can be hard to judge. You do not have to decode every link. If the address is unclear, leave it alone and open your saved school bookmark instead.
Checking the address helps you notice a mismatch. It cannot prove that every page is safe. The most useful choice is often to skip the message’s link and take a route you already know.
For another clear example, watch What Is a Fake Login Page? Then try Can QR Codes Be Phishing?
The short answer
A link has two parts you may see: the words on the page and the address it opens. Those can be different. A button saying school portal could lead somewhere else.
A simple example
On a computer, hold the pointer over the link without clicking. Many browsers show its destination near the bottom. This lets you inspect an address without opening that page.
For this made-up example, your school uses school dot example. A message points to school dash help dot example. These are different addresses. Adding a familiar word does not make them the same site.
Long or shortened addresses can be hard to judge. You do not have to decode every link. If the address is unclear, leave it alone and open your saved school bookmark instead.
Checking the address helps you notice a mismatch. It cannot prove that every page is safe. The most useful choice is often to skip the message’s link and take a route you already know.
Put it into practice
- On a computer, hover without clicking to preview the address where your browser supports it.
- Compare it with an address you already know; familiar words are not enough.
- If the address is confusing, use your saved bookmark or official app.
Check your understanding
A button says school.example but its destination is school-help.example. Are these the same site?
Answer
No. They are different addresses. This made-up example shows why the button text alone cannot identify the destination.
Explore next
Follow the free video course one question at a time. Teams can practise these habits through security training. For the cryptography protecting your systems, explore a cryptography audit.