The quiet return of the paper map
Phone maps are brilliant until the signal drops. The numbers are in , and the recap covers them in five minutes.
That is why hikers, pilots and planners still carry paper. Heading out this weekend? Pack the first.
Know the link before you open it.
Hover any link to see where it really goes. A free Chrome extension that strips trackers and flags look-alike addresses.
The whole idea in 53 seconds.
Previews, tracker removal, redirects and warnings, one scene each. Sound on if you can.
Every hop, before you click.
You point at a short link.
A short link hides its destination. You cannot tell from bit.ly where you will land.
bit.ly/3xKp9Qunboxx follows every redirect.
Your browser asks each address where it leads, without your cookies, and stops at the real page.
mailerpost.io → meridian-review.comThe trackers come off.
Campaign tags and click IDs are removed from the address before you open or copy it.
utm_source, utm_campaign, fbclidYou open the page you meant to.
One clean address, known before you click.
meridian-review.com/essays/paper-maps
Clean a link yourself.
Paste any link. This page runs the extension's own cleaning rules in your browser, so nothing is sent anywhere.
3 trackers removed.
- utm_source=newsletter
- utm_medium=email
- fbclid=example
Clean link
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_foxIt knows 60 short-link services and more than 250 tracking parameters, including site-specific ones for Amazon, YouTube and X.
Catch links that lie.
When the words on a link name one site and the address goes somewhere else, the card tells you before you click.
The link saysnorthwind-bank.com
It goes tonorthlnd-bank.top
This is the card unboxx shows for that link.
It also flags
- Look-alike letters
- Domains spelled with characters from other alphabets.
- Hidden real address
- Links like [email protected], where only the end counts.
- Bare IP addresses
- Numbers where a site name should be.
- Unusual endings
- Domain endings that show up mostly in spam.
- Unencrypted pages
- Plain HTTP that others on the network can read.
- Downloads and apps
- Files and installers, with their type and size.
- Known threats
- Optional Google Safe Browsing check with your own free key.
Every action, one key.
With a preview open, single keys copy, open, pin or expand it. Press them here to try. You can switch them off in settings.
Press C, M, O, B, P, D or Esc on your keyboard, or tap a key.
Yours to tune.
Choose when a preview opens and how much of the page it shows.
- When it opens
- On hover after a short delay, when you Tab to a link, or only while you hold Alt (Option on a Mac).
- What it shows
- A live view of the page, the site image, a screenshot, or no picture at all.
- Where it stops
- Pause unboxx on any site from the toolbar button. Paused sites are listed in settings.
No servers. No account. No analytics.
There is no unboxx server, so nothing you do is sent to us. Here is everything unboxx keeps, and everything that leaves your browser.
Stays in your browser
- Your settings and paused sites. Chrome may sync them to your other signed-in devices.
- Saved previews, which expire after 3 days.
- Your last 50 previewed links, if recent history is on. Never in incognito.
- Simple counts, like how many trackers were removed.
Leaves your browser
- A request to the link you preview, so its site can answer with a title and image. No cookies or referrer go with it.
- Live preview, the default, loads the page in a sandboxed frame, like a visit. Choose Site image or None to avoid that.
- Screenshot previews send the link to WordPress mShots. Off unless you pick them.
- Safe Browsing checks send the link to Google with your own key. Off unless you add one.
Take a better look before you click.
Free for Chrome. Nothing to sign up for.