Facebook Link Preview Debugger
Debug and fix Facebook link preview problems. Check why your link shows the wrong image, missing title, cropped thumbnail, or incorrect description, and preview your link card before sharing.
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Why Your Facebook Link Preview Isn't Working
When you share a link on Facebook and the preview looks wrong — no image, the wrong image, or a tiny thumbnail — the problem almost always comes down to one of these causes:
Missing Open Graph tags
If your page does not have og:image, og:title, and og:description meta tags in the HTML head, Facebook guesses what to show. It may pick a random image from your page — a logo, an ad, or nothing at all.
Image too small
Facebook requires a minimum of 600×315 pixels for a full-width link preview card. Images below that threshold get displayed as a tiny left-aligned thumbnail. Use the image size checker to verify your dimensions before sharing.
Facebook cache
Facebook aggressively caches link previews. If you updated your OG image after the link was first shared, Facebook still shows the old cached version. This is the single most common reason for "wrong image" complaints and catches developers and marketers off guard constantly.
Wrong or unreachable image URL
The og:image URL must be absolute (not relative), publicly accessible, served over HTTPS, and not blocked by robots.txt or authentication. If Facebook's crawler cannot reach it, no image appears.
How to Fix Facebook Link Preview Issues
Most link preview problems come down to incorrect or missing OG tags and Facebook's cache. Here is how to fix them:
1. Add the correct Open Graph meta tags
Place these in your page's <head> section:
<meta property="og:title" content="Your Page Title" />
<meta property="og:description" content="Your description" />
<meta property="og:image" content="https://yoursite.com/image.jpg" />
<meta property="og:image:width" content="1200" />
<meta property="og:image:height" content="630" />
<meta property="og:url" content="https://yoursite.com/page" />
<meta property="og:type" content="article" />
The og:image URL must be absolute and publicly accessible over HTTPS. Including og:image:width and og:image:height helps Facebook render the preview faster without downloading the full image first.
2. Clear Facebook's cache with the Sharing Debugger
Go to developers.facebook.com/tools/debug/, paste your URL, and click "Scrape Again". This forces Facebook to re-crawl your page and update the cached preview. Click it twice if the first scrape still shows old data.
3. Resize your image to 1200×630
If your image is being cropped or shown as a small thumbnail, resize it to exactly 1200×630 pixels (1.91:1 ratio). Use the Facebook image crop tool to match the ratio, or the free editor for more control.
4. Verify the fix
After updating your tags and image, use this debugger again to confirm everything passes, then scrape the URL one more time in the Facebook Sharing Debugger to lock in the corrected preview.
Common Link Preview Problems
These are the link preview issues developers and marketers run into most often on Facebook:
Wrong image showing
Facebook picks the first suitable image on the page if no og:image is set. This could be your site logo, a sidebar ad, or a random element. Always explicitly define the og:image meta tag with the exact image you want shown.
Old image cached
You changed your OG image but Facebook keeps showing the old one. This is Facebook's cache at work. The only fix is to use the Sharing Debugger to click "Scrape Again." Also verify your web server is not serving stale HTML from its own cache.
No image showing at all
The og:image tag is missing, the URL is broken, the image is behind authentication, or it is blocked by robots.txt. Make sure the image URL is absolute, uses HTTPS, and returns a 200 status code when accessed directly in a browser.
Image cropped badly
Facebook center-crops images that do not match the 1.91:1 aspect ratio. Square images lose the top and bottom; tall images lose even more. Faces, text, and key details at the edges get cut off. Use the Facebook image crop tool to see the safe zone before uploading.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is my Facebook link preview not showing an image?▼
Your page is likely missing the
og:image meta tag, or the image URL is not publicly accessible. Facebook's crawler must be able to reach the image over HTTPS. Check that your og:image tag uses an absolute URL and that the image file exists. Use the
thumbnail analyzer to check your OG image quality, or the
Facebook Sharing Debugger to see what Facebook reads from your page.
How do I fix a wrong Facebook link preview?▼
First, update your Open Graph meta tags (og:image, og:title, og:description) in your page's HTML head. Then go to the Facebook Sharing Debugger at developers.facebook.com/tools/debug/, enter your URL, and click "Scrape Again" to force Facebook to re-fetch the updated tags. You may need to click it twice for the update to take effect.
What size should my OG image be?▼
Facebook recommends
1200×630 pixels for Open Graph images. This ensures your link preview displays as a large, full-width image card with no cropping. The minimum accepted size is 600×315, but images below 1200×630 may appear as small thumbnails. Use the
image size checker to verify your dimensions.
How do I clear Facebook's link preview cache?▼
Go to the Facebook Sharing Debugger at developers.facebook.com/tools/debug/, paste your URL, and click "Scrape Again". This is the only reliable way to force Facebook to clear its cache and re-fetch your page's Open Graph tags. There is no automatic cache expiration you can depend on — you must manually trigger the refresh.
What are Open Graph meta tags?▼
Open Graph (OG) meta tags are HTML meta elements placed in your page's <head> section that control how your URL appears when shared on Facebook, LinkedIn, and other platforms. The key tags are og:title, og:description, og:image, og:url, and og:type. They tell Facebook exactly what title, description, and image to display in the link preview card.
Why does Facebook show an old image for my link?▼
Facebook aggressively caches link preview data including the OG image, title, and description. If you updated your og:image after the link was first shared, Facebook continues showing the cached version. Use the Facebook Sharing Debugger and click "Scrape Again" to force a refresh. Also verify that your server is not serving cached HTML and that the og:image URL actually points to the new file.