# _branch_match_id — Branch's browser ID on a link

- Canonical: https://linkclean.app/trackers/branch-match-id/
- Updated: 2026-10-05
- Author: Ken Tominaga (https://ken0nek.com)
- Get the app: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/linkclean/id6758604043

Parameter: `_branch_match_id` · Category: Social · Vendor: Branch

> _branch_match_id is **a number Branch appends to the page you land on after you click a Branch deep link**. Branch's own web SDK describes the value as "the current user's browser-fingerprint-id". It is there for attribution, not to load the page, and LinkClean strips it on every site.

## What Branch says it is

Branch makes deep links: its web SDK calls itself the "Branch Metrics Deep Linking/Smart Banner Web SDK". That SDK documents an option called `branch_match_id` as "The current user's browser-fingerprint-id. The value of this parameter should be the same as the value of `?_branch_match_id` (automatically appended by Branch after a link click)."

When the page loads, the SDK reads `_branch_match_id` from the address and uses it as the identifier of the link that was clicked. Branch's changelog for version 2.24.1 (July 2017) adds that the SDK "resets session data when `_branch_match_id` is not available".

## What it reveals when the link is shared

In Branch's own words the value identifies a browser. If you copy the address from the page and send it on, the number travels with it, attached to someone else's visit.

Branch's own code strips it too: when the SDK builds a link's desktop address, it removes `_branch_match_id=` and the digits after it.

## How LinkClean removes it

Default-on and global, with `_branch_referrer`, which AdGuard's filter files under Branch beside it. Branch's SDK does not describe `_branch_referrer`, so this page does not either. AdGuard's filter and Brave strip both names, and ClearURLs strips `_branch_match_id` on Reddit links.

## Example

Looks like this in a URL: `https://example.com/item/42?_branch_match_id=1234567890123456789&color=blue`

After LinkClean: `https://example.com/item/42?color=blue`

## Frequently asked

**Is _branch_match_id a fingerprint?**

Branch's web SDK calls the value the current user's browser-fingerprint-id. That is Branch's own term for it.

**Does the page still work without it?**

Yes. The page is addressed by the rest of the link. Branch's SDK uses the number to tie the visit to the click.

**What is _branch_referrer?**

A second Branch-prefixed name that blocklists remove beside _branch_match_id. Branch's web SDK does not describe it. LinkClean removes both.


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LinkClean removes tracking parameters from links on-device — free to clean, one-time Pro. https://linkclean.app/ · Cite freely with attribution.