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Overview
As part of the Office 365 Advance Threat Prevention, links in emails are checked by the SafeLinks service. When you click on a link, it verifies that the link has neither been blocked by the College nor determined to be malicious. To perform this check, it rewrites the links into some form of https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=.…. This can make it a little harder to decode where the link is taking you when you hover.
Problem
The rewritten URL makes it difficult to uncover the destination of the original URL. It can also cause problems with copying and pasting links from emails into another document or web content.
https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.drake.edu%2Fits&data=02%7C01%7Cmwelch%40BLINN.EDU%7C8dd00555e230496d9e8808d685441537%7C60448a85d0074d57a583bfec98e99c29%7C1%7C0%7C636842924815048658&sdata=DABBCBMMqX%2F5%2BqEVDQlm6n%2FMq93Xptl8K%2Bo%2Fd0VWjSQ%3D&reserved=0
The yellow part is the actual destination URL assuming it passes the precheck.
The green part will always follow the URL and identifies the recipients account in O365. Finding the &data can help find the end of the URL in cases where it is more complex. Like this one:
https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2Fregistry%2Fwishlist%2F1D3W2K1025O4S%2Fref%3Dcm_sw_em_r_mt_mt__wl&data=02%7C01%7Cmwelch%40blinn.edu%7Cfd51abfde4414e9a669408d6854488ec%7C60448a85d0074d57a583bfec98e99c29%7C1%7C0%7C636842926729578732&sdata=qjugbBG%2FlBbQuJ8kkBWCqILcnO16hqEcaEwwEkI7Ias%3D&reserved=0
Resolution
Use a utility that decodes the URL, such as www.o365atp.com
- In the email message, right-click on the link and select Copy Hyperlink.
- Go to o365atp.com.
- Paste the link into the top box.
- The original URL will then be displayed in the Decoded URL box.
Additional Information
Need additional information or assistance? Contact the IT Help Desk Chat Line or call the IT Help Desk at 979-830-4357 (HELP).