Another URL Cleaner

A Windows background app that automatically strips tracking parameters from URLs on the clipboard.

How it works

Another URL Cleaner runs in the system tray and monitors your clipboard. When you copy a URL, it instantly removes tracking parameters and replaces the clipboard contents with the cleaned URL — no manual steps needed.

Features

• 60+ tracking parameters stripped by default (Google Analytics, Facebook, HubSpot, Mailchimp, and more)
• Per-site rules with path cleaning, slug removal, fragment stripping, and more
• Configurable via config.json (auto-generated on first run)
• Pause cleaning from the tray menu — temporarily disables URL cleaning without exiting
• Open config location from the tray menu — opens Explorer with the config file selected
• Start with Windows option in the tray menu

Building from source

Prerequisites: Windows 10+, .NET 10 SDK

dotnet build src/
dotnet test tests/

The built executable will be in src/bin/Debug/net10.0-windows/.

Configuration

On first run, a config.json file is created next to the executable with sensible defaults. Changes to the config file are picked up automatically — no restart needed.

Tracking parameters

trackingParams — groups of query parameter names to strip from all URLs:

{
  "comment": "Google / GA",
  "params": ["utm_source", "utm_medium", "utm_campaign", "gclid", "..."]
}

Site rules

siteRules — per-domain overrides matched by domain suffix. Rules are matched by the suffix field, which accepts a single string or an array of strings.

Each option is described below with a config snippet and a before/after example.

---

stripAllParams — remove all query parameters (keep only those in excludedParams)

{ "suffix": "amazon.com", "stripAllParams": true }

Before: https://amazon.com/dp/B123?tag=abc&ref=sr&camp=456

After:  https://amazon.com/dp/B123

---

additionalParams — extra parameters to strip for this site, on top of the global list

{ "suffix": "airbnb.ca", "additionalParams": ["location", "search_mode", "category_tag"] }

Before: https://airbnb.ca/rooms/12345?location=Toronto&search_mode=flex&guests=2

After:  https://airbnb.ca/rooms/12345?guests=2

---

excludedParams — parameters to keep even when they appear in the global tracking list

{ "suffix": "youtube.com", "excludedParams": ["pp"] }

Before: https://youtube.com/watch?v=abc&utm_source=share&pp=keep

After:  https://youtube.com/watch?v=abc&pp=keep

---

keepPathFrom — keep the path starting from the first occurrence of any listed segment, discarding the SEO prefix before it

{ "suffix": "amazon.com", "keepPathFrom": ["dp", "gp"] }

Before: https://amazon.com/Enchanti-Removable-Magnetic/dp/B0DPKB2ZMF

After:  https://amazon.com/dp/B0DPKB2ZMF

---

stripPathSegments — remove path segments that start with these prefixes

{ "suffix": "amazon.com", "stripPathSegments": "ref=" }

Before: https://amazon.com/dp/B123/ref=sr_1_8

After:  https://amazon.com/dp/B123

---

stripSlugs — strip SEO slug text from path segments that start with digits followed by a hyphen (2409726-some-slug becomes 2409726)

{ "suffix": "makerworld.com", "stripSlugs": true }

Before: https://makerworld.com/en/models/2409726-travel-power-adapter-storage-box

After:  https://makerworld.com/en/models/2409726

---

stripFragment — remove the URL fragment (#...)

{ "suffix": "makerworld.com", "stripFragment": true }

Before: https://makerworld.com/en/models/2409726#profileId-2642005

After:  https://makerworld.com/en/models/2409726

---

Options compose together. Here's a full Amazon rule that combines multiple features:

{
  "suffix": ["amazon.com", "amazon.ca", "amazon.co.uk"],
  "keepPathFrom": ["dp", "gp"],
  "stripAllParams": true,
  "stripPathSegments": "ref="
}

Before: https://amazon.com/Enchanti-Removable-Magnetic/dp/B0DPKB2ZMF/ref=sr_1_8?tag=abc&camp=123

After:  https://amazon.com/dp/B0DPKB2ZMF

Code signing policy

This project has applied for free code signing through SignPath Foundation, but does not yet meet the community adoption requirements. Until then, Windows will show a SmartScreen warning when you run the executable.

You can help! Star the repo, fork it, or contribute — growing the community brings us closer to getting a trusted code signing certificate.

Privacy: This program will not transfer any information to other networked systems.

License

GPL-3.0