share.google Links: How to Get the Real Video Link
The Google app now shares pages as share.google links that hide the real address. Why transcript tools can't use them, how to get the original link, and how to switch the shortener off.
Short answer
A share.google link is the Google app's shortened stand-in for a page you shared from Search or Discover. It hides the real address, so a transcript tool cannot tell which video it points to. Open the link, copy the address your browser lands on, and paste that instead — or switch the shortener off in the Google app's settings.
If you share a video you found through Google Search on your phone, the link you send is often not the video's address at all. It is something like share.google/aB3dEfGh1JkLmNo. Paste that into SubGrab and you are told we can't use it. Here is why, and the ten-second fix.
What a share.google link is
The Google app on Android shortens the links you share from Search and Discover. 9to5Google reported it on 26 June 2025, the day Google added a switch to turn it off: "When sharing a URL from the Google app on Android, Search and Discover automatically applies a link shortener." Pages from Search become share.google links and pages from the Discover feed become search.app links. Open one and Google forwards you to the real page.
That forwarding is the whole problem. The short link says nothing about where it goes — it could be a YouTube video, a Facebook reel or a news article — so nothing reading it can tell what it is without following it first.
Why SubGrab asks for the real link
SubGrab works out which platform and which video a link points to before you confirm, so it can show you the price. A share.google address carries no video in it, so there is nothing to recognise — and in the first four days of October, people pasted one three times.
Rather than guess, SubGrab now tells you exactly what the link is and what to paste instead.
How to get the real link
On a phone:
1. Tap the share.google link so it opens.
2. When the page has loaded, copy the address from the browser's address bar — or, if it opened in the YouTube, Facebook or TikTok app, use that app's Share button and choose Copy link.
3. Paste that into SubGrab.
On a computer, open the link in a browser tab and copy the address bar once the page has loaded.
You can tell you have the right one: it names the platform, such as youtube.com/watch?v=…, youtu.be/… or facebook.com/reel/….
Turning the shortener off
If you share links from the Google app often, switch the shortener off and every link you share will be the real one. In the Google app, tap your profile picture, then Settings, then Other settings, and turn off "Shorten links to web pages". That is where the toggle sat when Google added it, and it is on by default.
Other short links that do work
Not every short link is a problem. Platform short links name their platform and work as pasted: youtu.be, fb.watch, vm.tiktok.com, dai.ly and the rest. The full list is in every video link format that works.
Once you have the real address, paste it on the homepage.
Frequently asked
Why does SubGrab refuse share.google links?
Because the link does not say where it leads. SubGrab only accepts a link it can recognise as a video on a supported site, so that it can price the video before you pay. Open the share.google link, copy the address it lands on, and paste that.
How do I stop the Google app shortening the links I share?
In the Google app, tap your profile picture, open Settings, then Other settings, and turn off Shorten links to web pages. That is where the toggle sat when Google added it in June 2025; it is on by default.
What is a search.app link?
The same idea from the same app: pages shared from the Discover feed come out as search.app links. Treat them exactly like share.google links — open the link, copy the real address, paste that.