Facebook link preview not updating? Force a re-scrape
You changed your Open Graph tags, but Facebook stubbornly shows the old preview. That is not a bug in your site: Facebook scrapes a URL once and caches the result. Unlike most platforms, Facebook actually gives you a button to fix it.
The free checker shows your previews for nine platforms — from X and WhatsApp to iMessage, Discord and Bluesky.
Verify your tags are actually live
Before blaming the cache, confirm the new tags are in your HTML right now — paste the URL into the MetaPeek checker. If the tags are wrong there, fix your page first; no amount of re-scraping helps.
Force a re-scrape with the Sharing Debugger
Open developers.facebook.com/tools/debug (Facebook login required), paste your URL and press "Scrape Again". Facebook fetches your page fresh and updates the cached preview everywhere the link is shared from then on.
Prevent the empty first share
The very first time a URL is shared, Facebook may render the card before it has downloaded your image — result: a share without an image. Adding og:image:width and og:image:height lets Facebook render the image immediately, even on the first share.
Check the image requirements
Minimum 200×200 px; 1200×630 (1.91:1) is the recommended size for the large card. Use a stable https URL that does not redirect.
Code example
<meta property="og:title" content="Your page title" />
<meta property="og:description" content="One or two short sentences." />
<meta property="og:image" content="https://yoursite.com/og-image.jpg" />
<!-- These two prevent the image-less FIRST share: -->
<meta property="og:image:width" content="1200" />
<meta property="og:image:height" content="630" />
<meta property="og:url" content="https://yoursite.com/page" />Common mistakes
- Fixing tags and expecting old shares to updatePosts that were already published keep their rendered card. A re-scrape updates the cache for new shares — it does not rewrite history.
- og:url pointing somewhere elseFacebook treats og:url as the canonical URL and may scrape THAT page instead. Make sure it points to the page itself.
- Debugger warnings panicWarnings like a missing fb:app_id are harmless for the preview. Focus on the image and title fields the debugger actually shows.
Frequently asked questions
How long does Facebook cache a link preview?
Facebook re-scrapes periodically (roughly every 30 days), but you never have to wait: the Sharing Debugger\u2019s "Scrape Again" refreshes it instantly.
Can I refresh the cache without a Facebook account?
Not officially — the Sharing Debugger requires a login. Without one, your options are waiting or sharing a query-string variant of the URL (?v=2), which Facebook treats as a new URL.
Why does the first share of a new page have no image?
Facebook renders the card before your image finished downloading. Declare og:image:width and og:image:height so it can lay out the card immediately.
Paste your URL and see within two seconds whether everything is right — on every platform.