How to Fix Facebook Link Preview Images

Q: What size should the og:image be for Facebook?

Use 1200×630 pixels at a 1.91:1 aspect ratio. Images smaller than 600×315 may display as a small square thumbnail instead of a large preview card. Always use the largest recommended size for the best appearance.

Q: Why does my Facebook link preview show no image at all?

The most common causes are: no og:image meta tag on the page, the image URL returns a 404, the image is blocked by robots.txt or requires authentication, or the image file is larger than 8MB. Check your Open Graph tags and make sure the image URL is publicly accessible.

Q: How long does Facebook cache link previews?

Facebook caches link previews indefinitely until someone manually scrapes the URL again using the Sharing Debugger. There is no automatic expiration. If you update your og:image, you must manually clear the cache.

You share a link on Facebook and the wrong image shows up. Or no image at all. Or the title is outdated. Or the description is pulled from the wrong part of the page. This is one of the most common and frustrating problems on Facebook — and it happens because of how Facebook caches and reads your page's metadata.

The good news: link preview problems are almost always fixable. This guide explains exactly why Facebook link previews break, how Facebook decides what to show, and how to fix every common issue step by step.

Quick Fix Checklist

Step 1: Add og:image, og:title, og:description tags

Step 2: Use 1200×630 image (1.91:1)

Step 3: Make image URL publicly accessible

Step 4: Scrape URL in Sharing Debugger

Jump to:

Why Previews Break How Facebook Chooses Common Problems How to Fix Best Image Size Test Before Sharing FAQ

Why Facebook Link Previews Break

When someone shares a link on Facebook, Facebook's crawler visits the URL and reads the page's Open Graph (OG) meta tags to build the preview card — the image, title, and description you see in the feed. Previews break when this process goes wrong.

Missing Open Graph tags — if your page doesn't have og:image, og:title, and og:description meta tags, Facebook guesses what to show. It picks a random image from the page, pulls text from the body, and the result is unpredictable.
Cached outdated data — Facebook caches link previews the first time a URL is shared or crawled. If you fix your OG tags later, Facebook keeps showing the old version until you manually clear the cache.
Image URL is broken — the og:image tag points to an image that returns a 404, is blocked by robots.txt, requires login, or is on a server that blocks Facebook's crawler.
Image is too small — images smaller than 200×200 pixels may be ignored entirely. Images smaller than 600×315 display as a small square thumbnail instead of a large preview card.
Redirect chains — if the URL redirects multiple times or the image URL redirects, Facebook's crawler may time out or fail to follow the chain.

How Facebook Chooses Link Preview Images

Facebook's crawler follows a specific priority order when building a link preview:

og:image meta tag — this is the primary source. If present and valid, Facebook uses this image for the preview. This is what you should always set.
og:image:url — an alternative to og:image. Works the same way but is less commonly used.
First large image on the page — if no OG image is specified, Facebook scans the page HTML for the first image that meets its minimum size requirements (200×200 pixels).
Favicon or no image — if no valid image is found, Facebook may show a tiny favicon or a blank gray preview card.

The same priority applies to titles (og:title → <title> tag) and descriptions (og:description → <meta name="description"> → first paragraph of body text).

The minimum OG tags you need

<meta property="og:title" content="Your Page Title">
<meta property="og:description" content="A short description of the page.">
<meta property="og:image" content="https://example.com/image.jpg">
<meta property="og:url" content="https://example.com/page">
<meta property="og:type" content="website">

The og:image URL must be an absolute URL (starting with https://), not a relative path. Facebook's crawler cannot resolve relative paths.

Common Link Preview Problems

Wrong image showing

Facebook is using a cached version of your page from before you added or updated the og:image tag. Scrape the URL in the Sharing Debugger to force a refresh. Use the link preview debugger to check what Facebook currently sees.

No image at all

Either the og:image tag is missing, the image URL returns a 404, or the image is smaller than 200×200 pixels. Check that the image URL is publicly accessible — open it directly in a browser. If the server requires authentication or blocks bots, Facebook's crawler can't reach it.

Small square thumbnail instead of large card

Facebook shows a small square preview when the image is smaller than 600×315 pixels. Upload an image at 1200×630 to get the full-width preview card. Check your image dimensions before updating the tag.

Title or description is wrong

Facebook is reading an old cached version or falling back to the <title> tag / body text because your og:title and og:description tags are missing. Add the tags and re-scrape.

Image is cropped badly

The image aspect ratio doesn't match Facebook's 1.91:1 display ratio. Facebook center-crops images that don't fit, cutting off edges. Use a 1200×630 image to avoid cropping. Preview the result with the post preview tool.

Preview works on desktop but not mobile

Mobile and desktop Facebook apps cache independently. Scrape the URL in the Sharing Debugger to clear both caches. Also check that the image loads quickly — slow-loading images may time out on mobile connections.

How to Fix Facebook Link Preview Issues

Follow these steps in order. Most link preview problems are fixed by step 3.

Add or fix your Open Graph tags
Make sure your page has all five core OG tags in the <head>: og:title, og:description, og:image, og:url, and og:type. The og:image must be an absolute URL pointing to a publicly accessible image file.
Use the correct image size
The image should be 1200×630 pixels (1.91:1 ratio) for the full-width preview card. Images under 600×315 display as a small square. Verify with the image size checker.
Clear Facebook's cache
Open the Facebook Sharing Debugger, paste your URL, and click "Scrape Again" (click it twice to be sure). This forces Facebook to re-crawl your page and update the cached preview. You can also use the link preview debugger to check what Facebook currently sees.
Verify the image URL is accessible
Open the og:image URL directly in a browser. If it returns a 404, redirects, requires login, or shows a "403 Forbidden" error, Facebook can't access it either. The image must be on a publicly reachable server with no authentication.
Check for redirect issues
If your URL redirects (e.g., HTTP → HTTPS, non-www → www), make sure the OG tags are on the final destination page, not the redirect source. Facebook follows redirects but reads tags from the final URL.
Preview before sharing
After fixing, use the post preview tool to see exactly how your link will appear in the Facebook feed. This catches image cropping and text truncation before your audience sees it.

Best Image Size for Facebook Link Previews

Getting the image size right is the difference between a full-width preview card that drives clicks and a tiny square thumbnail that gets ignored.

Image Size	Result
1200×630 (recommended)	Full-width preview card, sharp on all devices
600×315	Full-width preview but may look soft on high-density screens
Under 600×315	Small square thumbnail, less prominent in feed
Under 200×200	May be ignored entirely — no image shown
Over 8 MB file size	Facebook may fail to download the image

Aspect ratio: 1.91:1 for the full-width card. Non-matching ratios get center-cropped.
Format: JPG for photographs, PNG for graphics with text or sharp edges.
File size: Keep under 8 MB. Smaller is faster — aim for under 300 KB for fastest loading.
URL requirements: Must be an absolute URL (https://). Must be publicly accessible. No authentication, no redirect chains longer than 3 hops.

Use the image size checker to verify your image meets these requirements before updating your OG tags.

Always test your link preview before sharing publicly. A broken preview is the first thing your audience sees — and you can't edit it after posting.

Testing workflow

Check your OG tags — use the link preview debugger to see what Facebook reads from your page. It shows the exact image, title, and description Facebook will use.
Verify image dimensions — run your og:image through the image size checker to confirm it meets the 1200×630 minimum for a full-width card.
Preview the feed appearance — use the post preview tool to see how the preview card looks at actual feed size, including image cropping and text truncation.
Scrape in the Sharing Debugger — paste your URL into Facebook's official Sharing Debugger and click "Scrape Again" to confirm the live preview matches your expectations.

After fixing: common gotchas

Click "Scrape Again" twice — the first scrape fetches the page, the second confirms the update. One scrape sometimes isn't enough.
Wait a few minutes for CDN propagation — if you just updated the image on your server, the CDN may still serve the old file. Wait 2-5 minutes before scraping.
Check the og:image URL directly — open it in a private browser window to make sure it loads without authentication or redirects.
Test both HTTP and HTTPS — if your site serves both, make sure the OG tags and canonical URL use HTTPS consistently.

Need to debug a broken link preview?

Open the Link Preview Debugger →

Facebook Link Preview FAQ

Why is Facebook showing the wrong image for my link?▼

Facebook caches link previews the first time a URL is shared or crawled. If your og:image tag was missing or pointed to a different image at that time, Facebook keeps the old version. Use the Facebook Sharing Debugger to scrape the URL again and force a cache refresh. Check with the link preview debugger.

How do I force Facebook to update a link preview?▼

Open the Facebook Sharing Debugger (developers.facebook.com/tools/debug/), paste your URL, and click "Scrape Again" — click it twice to be sure. This forces Facebook to re-crawl your page and update the cached preview.

What size should the og:image be for Facebook?▼

Use 1200×630 pixels at a 1.91:1 aspect ratio. Images smaller than 600×315 display as a small square thumbnail instead of a full-width card. Verify with the image size checker.

Why does my Facebook link preview show no image at all?▼

Common causes: no og:image meta tag, the image URL returns a 404, the image is blocked by robots.txt or requires authentication, or the file is larger than 8 MB. Check that your image URL is publicly accessible by opening it directly in a browser.

How long does Facebook cache link previews?▼

Facebook caches link previews indefinitely. There is no automatic expiration. If you update your og:image, you must manually clear the cache by scraping the URL in the Sharing Debugger.