Copy a link from Instagram and you get more than the address of the post. Everything after the ? — most visibly igsh= and a run of random characters — is a tracking tag, created for that one share. And it does something most people don't expect: it can tell whoever opens the link that you shared it.
The fix takes two seconds: delete the ? and everything after it. The link still works. Here's what the tag does, and the easiest ways to get rid of it.
What is igsh?
It's the tracking tag Instagram adds when you tap Share → Copy link on a post, reel, or video. A new one is created for every share, and it identifies that share: this link, copied by this account, at this moment. Meta has never documented it. Older links used igshid= — the earlier form of the same thing.
What does the igsh tag reveal?
Open a shared link in the Instagram app, and Instagram can greet you with the sharer's name: "aurumspire shared this reel with you" — profile photo included, sometimes with a Follow button attached. The sharer is never asked first. The link carries the introduction.
Two things follow from that:
- Anyone who opens your link can learn it came from you. People have been outed this way in group chats and forums where they thought they were anonymous.
- The tag survives forwarding. Pass someone's link along without cleaning it, and it keeps pointing at them — the app can go on naming them to people they never sent it to.
How do I remove igsh from an Instagram link?
Delete the ? and everything after it:
https://www.instagram.com/reel/ABC123xyz/?igsh=MWxkNzR...
https://www.instagram.com/reel/ABC123xyz/
Both open the same reel. Nothing after the ? is needed.
Two details worth knowing:
- If you opened a link someone sent you, their tag is still in your address bar. Clean it before copying from there.
- Some newer links look like
instagram.com/share/…, with no?at all. Open one in a browser, let it land on the real post, and copy that address instead.
Is this an Instagram-only thing?
No. YouTube (si=), TikTok, and Facebook attach similar identifiers to shared links, and marketing links add utm_ tags everywhere. Instagram's version just introduces you by name — which is why it's the one worth cleaning first.
The two-second fix, automated
If you share links often, UnfollowPeek's Link Cleaner does it for you: paste a link, get a safe one back, and every cleaned link is kept in a built-in history. It's part of the app's free tier — naming and favoriting saved links is Pro.
UnfollowPeek (free, iOS 18+) works this way everywhere: no Instagram login, ever — it reads the data export Meta gives you, on your iPhone (why that matters). The product page has the rest, and the free unfollow checker runs in your browser with nothing uploaded.