Open Graph Preview
Preview your Open Graph cards on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, WhatsApp, Slack, Discord, Pinterest and Telegram
What are Open Graph previews?
Sharing a link without previewing it first is like sending an email without proofreading. Your carefully crafted content might appear with a broken image, a truncated title, or worse — a completely blank card that gets scrolled right past. An Open Graph preview lets you see exactly what your audience will see before you hit share.
The challenge is that every platform renders link previews differently. Twitter shows a wide landscape card with the image taking up most of the space. WhatsApp crops your image into a tight square. LinkedIn adds a subtle gray overlay. Discord embeds your preview in a colored sidebar. Pinterest ignores your og:description entirely and focuses on the image. What looks perfect on one platform can look broken on another.
Unfurli renders your link preview across all eight major platforms simultaneously, using the actual aspect ratios and layouts each platform uses. You'll immediately spot if your image gets awkwardly cropped on WhatsApp, if your title is too long for Twitter, or if your description gets cut off mid-sentence on Discord. Fix the issues, re-check, and share with confidence.
Common Open Graph preview issues and how to fix them
1. Platform shows a cached old preview
After updating your OG tags, social platforms may still show the old preview for hours or days. Each platform has its own cache duration and clearing method.
Facebook: Use Sharing Debugger → "Scrape Again" Twitter: Use Card Validator → paste URL LinkedIn: Use Post Inspector → click "Inspect" Slack: Re-paste the link in a new message Discord: Wait ~30 min or re-share in a new message
2. Preview shows wrong image or no image
If your og:image URL resolves to a 404, redirect, or non-image content type, platforms will either show no image or pick a random image from your page. Always verify the image URL loads directly in a browser.
<!-- Verify this URL loads an actual image --> <meta property="og:image" content="https://example.com/og.png" /> <!-- Add dimensions to prevent blank previews on first share --> <meta property="og:image:width" content="1200" /> <meta property="og:image:height" content="630" />
3. WhatsApp preview not showing at all
WhatsApp is particularly strict about image requirements. It needs images at least 300x200 pixels, served over HTTPS, with a valid content-type header. It also caches aggressively — clearing the app's cache or reinstalling may be needed to see updates.
4. Preview not updating after code changes
If your OG tags are rendered client-side (via JavaScript after page load), social media crawlers won't see them. OG tags must be present in the initial server-rendered HTML. Frameworks like Next.js, Astro, and Nuxt handle this automatically; SPAs built with create-react-app do not.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I preview my Open Graph tags?▾
Paste your URL into Unfurli above. It fetches your page, reads all OG tags, and renders accurate previews showing exactly how your link will appear on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, WhatsApp, Slack, Discord, Pinterest, and Telegram — all on one screen, in under 3 seconds.
Why do my link previews look different on each platform?▾
Each platform renders link cards differently. Twitter uses a 1.91:1 landscape card, WhatsApp crops images to a square, Pinterest prefers tall portraits, and Discord uses a 2:1 wide format. The same OG tags produce visually different results because each platform applies its own layout, cropping, and character limits.
Can I preview OG tags before publishing my page?▾
Not directly — OG preview tools need to fetch a live URL. However, you can deploy to a staging URL, preview it with Unfurli, fix any issues, then deploy to production. In Next.js, Vercel preview deployments are perfect for this workflow.
Do link previews update automatically after I change OG tags?▾
No. Most platforms aggressively cache link previews. Facebook caches for ~24 hours, LinkedIn for ~7 days, and Twitter until manually invalidated. After updating your OG tags, you need to clear each platform's cache using their respective debugging tools.
How do I force a preview refresh on social media?▾
For Facebook, use the Sharing Debugger and click 'Scrape Again'. For Twitter, use the Card Validator. For LinkedIn, use the Post Inspector. For Slack, the preview refreshes when you re-paste the link. For WhatsApp, clear your chat cache or wait ~24 hours.
What if my preview shows the wrong image?▾
This usually means either: your og:image URL returns a 404, the image is too small for the platform's minimum size, you have multiple og:image tags and the platform picked the wrong one, or the platform cached an old version. Check the image URL directly in your browser, then use Unfurli to verify it's being detected correctly.