Open URL files in your browser
The web shortcuts Windows saves when you drag a link to the desktop. See where one points right here, before you open it. Nothing leaves your device.
Or drop it anywhere on this page
What you'll see
Your shortcut opens as where it points, with nothing run or opened.
- Where it points • A web address opens after it asks
- What opening it runs, shown as text
- Windows, Mac and Linux shortcuts alike
- Nothing in it ever runs
About URL
Internet Explorer brought Internet Shortcuts to Windows in the 1990s. Dragging a link from a browser to the desktop or a folder still saves one, a .url file named after the page.
A .url file is a few lines of text: the address, and sometimes an icon and a hotkey. Its address can also point to a file or a program on a network, which is why mail filters treat them with care.
Filepeek shows the address the shortcut points to. A web or email address opens in a new tab after a popup shows its host, so a lookalike name stands out, and nothing else in the file is followed.
Internet Shortcut
.url
Format
- MIME type
- application/internet-shortcut
- Made by
- Microsoft
Inside the file
- Points to
- A web address
- Keeps
- An icon and a hotkey
- Markup
- Plain text, like an INI file
- Made by
- Windows and its browsers
Opens in every browser
Browsers download URL files. Filepeek shows where one points in Chrome, Edge, Firefox and Safari.
- YouChromeOpens through Filepeek
- YouEdgeOpens through Filepeek
- YouFirefoxOpens through Filepeek
- YouSafariOpens through Filepeek
Questions
How do I open a .url file on a Mac or a phone?
Drop it on this page or press Peek a URL. The address shows, and Open takes you there after it asks.
Why does Filepeek ask before opening the link?
The popup shows the link's host in plain letters, so a name made to look like another, with lookalike letters, shows for what it is before you go.
Can a .url file run a program?
Its address can point to a file or a program instead of a page. Filepeek only opens web and email addresses, and shows the rest as text.
Is my file uploaded?
No. The file opens inside your browser and never leaves your device.