INKY links still scanned or rewritten after disabling link rewriting

After disabling INKY’s link rewriting feature, embedded links in emails may continue to redirect through INKY or display the INKY Link Protection page. This occurs because disabling link rewriting only affects emails delivered after the change, and because other INKY settings or third-party security services may independently scan or rewrite links. This article explains how to identify which setting or service is responsible and resolve the issue.

Symptom

Links in emails continue to redirect through INKY or display the INKY Link Protection page even after link rewriting has been disabled in the INKY admin portal.

Causes

Links in emails continue to redirect through INKY or display the INKY Link Protection page even after link rewriting has been disabled in the INKY admin portal.

• Disabling link rewriting only applies to emails delivered after the change. Links in emails delivered before the setting was disabled were rewritten at the time of delivery and remain rewritten.

• Other INKY security settings, such as user confirmation pages, blocking policies, brand impersonation detection, or phishing awareness training, may continue to scan, warn about, or block links independently of the link rewriting toggle.

• A third-party link-rewriting service (such as Microsoft Safe Links, Proofpoint, Mimecast, or Barracuda) may be active in the mail flow and rewriting links regardless of INKY’s configuration.

Resolution steps

To resolve this issue, complete the following steps:

1. Verify the link rewriting setting. In the INKY admin portal, navigate to Settings > Markup > Link Rewriting and confirm that Enable link rewriting is disabled.

2. Confirm whether the affected emails were delivered before or after the change. Emails delivered before link rewriting was disabled will retain their rewritten links, this is expected behavior. To restore original links in a previously delivered email, the sender must resend the email after the feature is disabled.

3. Review other INKY settings that affect link processing. Even with link rewriting disabled, the following settings can cause links to be scanned, warned about, or blocked:

   • Do Not Allow Users To Continue to a Potentially Dangerous Site: When enabled, users cannot bypass the INKY warning page for dangerous links. Disabling this setting allows users to proceed after a warning. Location: Settings > Markup > Link Rewriting.

   • User Confirmation Settings: Controls whether users see confirmation pages based on threat level (Caution, Danger, All links, or Never). This can be configured separately for external and trusted third-party/internal mail. Location: Settings > Markup > Link Rewriting.

   • Blocking Policy and Sender Allow Lists: Aggressive blocking policies or missing allow-list entries can cause links from certain senders or domains to be blocked or flagged. Location: Settings > Allow List, Settings > Block List.

   • Link Rewriting Exceptions: Exceptions prevent INKY from rewriting or blocking links for specific email addresses, domains, URLs, or subdomains. If exceptions are not configured as expected, links may still be processed. Location: Settings > Markup > Link Rewriting.

   • Brand Impersonation and Spoofing Detection: Emails classified as brand impersonation or as spoofed internal users may have links blocked regardless of link rewriting status. Review sender authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) and allow-list actions for affected senders.

   • Phishing Awareness Training Settings: If enabled, settings such as Do not attach raw messages to reports can affect how simulation links are processed and auto-clicked. Location: Settings > Phishing Awareness Training.

4. Check for third-party link-rewriting services in your mail flow. If another service such as Microsoft Safe Links, Proofpoint, Mimecast, or Barracuda is active in your environment, it may be rewriting or blocking links independently of INKY’s configuration. Review your mail flow and disable or adjust the conflicting service as needed.

5. Add link rewriting exceptions if needed. To allow specific links or domains to pass through without processing, navigate to Settings > Markup > Link Rewriting and add the relevant email addresses, domains, URLs, or subdomains.

After completing these steps, newly delivered emails should contain unmodified links. If links in new emails are still being rewritten or blocked, contact INKY support for further assistance.

Tips and tricks

When investigating this issue, start by confirming whether the affected emails were delivered before or after link rewriting was disabled. This rules out the most common cause without any configuration changes. If the issue is limited to emails from specific senders or domains, focus on the allow list, blocking policy, and brand impersonation settings before reviewing broader mail flow changes.

Related articles

• Link Rewriting

• DMARC Monitoring

• Phishing Awareness Training