Differences between URL formats for a Confluence Data Center pages

Platform Notice: Data Center Only - This article only applies to Atlassian apps on the Data Center platform.

Note that this KB was created for the Data Center version of the product. Data Center KBs for non-Data-Center-specific features may also work for Server versions of the product, however they have not been tested. Support for Server* products ended on February 15th 2024. If you are running a Server product, you can visit the Atlassian Server end of support announcement to review your migration options.

*Except Fisheye and Crucible

Summary

There are several different ways to link to a given Confluence page, and this KB aims to explain when and how each format is generated.

Three of the most common formats are:

  • Page title ("pretty") format

  • PageId format

  • Shortened ("tiny link") format

The Confluence page URL is generated automatically each time a Confluence page is created. By design, it is not possible to disable certain formats as outlined in the improvement request CONFSERVER-28491 - Function Request: disabling automatic conversion from page's URL to page title in Confluence

Solution

Page Title ("Pretty") Format

Example:

https://confluence.example.com/display/SPACEKEY/Page+Title

Whenever possible, Confluence will default to using this format to link to pages. This format contains the space key where the page resides, as well as the title of the page itself with some minor substitutions and URL encoding (e.g. spaces are replaced with "+" signs). This type of link allows users to identify what the linked content is about without needing to click on it. If the page title changes, the URL will likewise be updated to reflect the new title. If a user then tries to access a page with the old title in the URL, they will encounter a "Page not found" with a suggestion that the page may have been renamed, including a link to the new page.

As this URL format is based on the page title, there are conditions that can prevent the pretty format from being generated. These conditions include either:

  • If the page title contains a URL reserved or unsafe character, such as (but not limited to):

    % & ? / \ ; " § + :

  • If the page title contains non-Latin characters such as (but not limited to):

    • German Umlauts

    • CJK Characters

  • If the final character of the page title is any non-alphanumeric character.

If either of these is true, Confluence will default to using the pageId URL format instead of trying to generate a pretty URL with the page title.

PageId Format

Example:

https://confluence.example.com/pages/viewpage.action?pageId=123456

Unlike the pretty format, the PageId format can be used to refer to any page in Confluence, since each page has a unique pageId value (stored in the database). As long as the pageId is known, a user can substitute the value at the end of the URL and access the page directly. The URL for a given page is static and will retain the same pageId reference even if the page is renamed or moved to a different location.

To get PageID follow the steps described in the article: How to get Confluence page ID

Shortened ("Tiny Link") Format

Example:

https://confluence.example.com/x/a4OcE

Typically not seen in the UI, users can request a shortened URL to be generated for any given page by accessing the page and clicking "..." > Page Information. The resulting page will have the tiny link generated. This format is useful if character count is a restriction when sharing the link. It is generated based on the PageId after converting to a byte array and encoded to base64. You can find the technical details here: How to programmatically generate the Tiny link of a Confluence page

Related Feature Requests

There are a couple of feature requests you may wish to follow, relating to page URL formatting:

Anchor Links

The Confluence Anchor Links will still be working in any of the formats above, such as:

Anchor in Pretty Format

https://confluence.example.com/display/PROJ/page+one#pageone-afterline3

Anchor in PageId Format

https://confluence.example.com/pages/viewpage.action?pageId=98404#pageone-afterline3

Anchor in Tiny Link Format

https://confluence.example.com/x/ZIAB#pageone-afterline3

Support for languages and special characters in page URLs

Confluence 9.1 now supports a new format for page and blog post URLs. Key improvements include:

  • Updated URL format with space key, page ID, and page title for better readability.

  • Extended support for non-Latin and special characters in page titles within URLs.

  • Automatic redirection for URLs of renamed pages.

  • Seamless redirection from old-format URLs, such as bookmarks, to the new URLs without breaking links.

The new URL format follows this structure:

  • https://confluence.example.com/spaces/SPACEKEY/pages/pageID/Page+Title

Updated on June 12, 2025

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