Extract target file link from the shortcut link (.url) in SharePoint library

Use Case:

To get or extract the actual file link from the shortcut link (.url) present in the SharePoint library.

Solution:

In this example, we are extracting the link on creation or addition of a file so I have used an automated trigger "When a file is created (properties only)" but you may choose the trigger as per your need.

Choose SharePoint site URL & library name in the input parameters:

Add "Get file content" action. Pass the file identifier dynamically from the output of trigger:

Finally add a "Compose" action to get the actual link of a file. We will enter an expression to get the value of required link. Expression needs to be added in the Function box as shown below:

trim(last(split(decodeBase64(body('Get_file_content')?['$content']),'URL=')))

The output of compose action will give the actual link of shortcut link(.url).

Output:

Conclusion:

We can extract the actual link of a file from SharePoint library by decoding the base64 content of link object and parsing that decoded string using complex expression.