Account and profile

A registered account gives you a private workspace for links created while signed in. The profile area includes username, first and last name, email, password change, account freeze, and account deletion. Freezing an account temporarily pauses all existing links owned by that account while still allowing the user to prepare new links. Account deletion requires confirmation and removes the user-owned links and related product data.

An account turns clk.ms from a quick shortener into a workspace. Links created while signed in belong to the user and appear in My links. The user can return later to edit settings, review statistics, organize groups, manage QR designs, configure UTM data, create routing rules, add webhooks, and change privacy controls. Without an account, the basic creation flow is intentionally simpler and does not expose the full management surface.

The profile area keeps identity and account controls together. Users can update personal information, change or recover a password through email, freeze the account, or request deletion. Freezing is useful when the owner wants existing links to stop working temporarily without losing settings. Deletion is stronger: it should be used when the account and its owned links should be removed after confirmation.

Example: a freelancer creates links for several clients under one account, groups them by client, and shares analytics with each client when needed. If the freelancer pauses work for one client, they can freeze or adjust specific links without affecting the rest of the workspace.

Best practice: use a real email address, keep account recovery working, and review profile access before giving other users permissions. If several people work with links, use delegated access instead of sharing one password.

How to apply this section

Each topic explains a feature, the user decision behind it, and how to use it without making the link harder to manage. Read the checklist before changing a link that is already shared.

Before you publish or update

Start from the visitor experience: who opens the link, from where, on which device, and what should happen next.
Check that the destination is correct, opens quickly, and shows the expected page for the intended audience.
Choose only the controls that match the goal, such as expiration, password, referrer, QR design, UTM, routing, or analytics sharing.
Save a short note for important changes so future review, rollback, or teamwork stays clear.
Open the short link in a private browser session and, when relevant, test mobile, desktop, QR scan, and protected access paths.
Review analytics after sharing to confirm real visitors, source quality, device mix, and campaign performance.

Practical example

Example: create a test link for an internal page, add a clear slug, set a short expiration, enable preview if the destination is sensitive, scan the QR code from a phone, then check whether the visit appears in the link statistics.

Next step

After this topic is clear, combine it with one adjacent feature. For example, pair UTM with campaigns, QR with print layouts, targeting with fallback, or webhooks with conversion tracking.