URL Loupe

Inspect non-ASCII hostnames and brand lookalikes locally. Right-click links, use the toolbar or type host + Tab.

A closer look at every URL. URL Loupe makes hostname characters easier to inspect. It highlights all non-ASCII characters and offers visual character hints, including ASCII lookalikes such as I/l and character combinations such as rn/m. Four ways to inspect: • Right-click a link, selected URL or page and choose “Inspect with URL Loupe”. The toolbar popup opens while the current webpage stays active; the inspected website is not visited automatically. For links, the actual destination is checked even if the visible text differs. • Open the toolbar popup to inspect the current tab URL or paste a URL for instant results. • Hover or keyboard-focus a webpage link to view its hostname without opening it. • Type “host”, press Tab in Chrome’s address bar, and enter a URL. Press Enter to open a local, highlighted review page instead of visiting the destination. What you see: • Pink highlights for non-ASCII hostname characters, including legitimate internationalized domain names. • Gold outlines for visually similar characters, with Unicode code points and character hints. • The actual ASCII / Punycode hostname used by the browser. • The original hostname when normalization changes it. Private by design: • Inspection runs locally. The extension does not automatically visit inspected websites or send inspection results to a server. • No account, ads, analytics or stored browsing history. • Bundled code and Unicode mappings; no remote executable code. • English and Simplified Chinese. The popup includes a language toggle. Important limits: Character highlights are reading aids, not a phishing verdict. Ordinary ASCII words and legitimate internationalized domain names can be highlighted. This extension version does not compare company brands, query reputation lists, inspect certificates, trace redirects or block navigation. Chrome’s ordinary address bar is not intercepted or recolored. Link inspection is limited to supported HTTP(S) pages; browser pages, restricted pages, PDF viewers and iframe links may not be covered. Website: https://loupe.zhaidewei.com/ Source and support: https://github.com/zhaidewei/url-loupe Privacy: https://loupe.zhaidewei.com/privacy.html