WhatsApp link preview not showing? Here is how to fix it
Half the world shares links on WhatsApp, yet almost nobody tests what those links look like there. When WhatsApp shows a bare URL, a missing image or an outdated card, it is almost always one of four causes: missing Open Graph tags, an image that is too heavy, a relative image URL, or the cache. In that order.
The free checker shows your previews for nine platforms — from X and WhatsApp to iMessage, Discord and Bluesky.
Check that your basic tags exist
WhatsApp builds its preview from your Open Graph tags: og:title, og:description and og:image. No tags means a bare link. Paste your URL into the MetaPeek checker to see exactly which tags WhatsApp finds — and what the card will look like.
Put your og:image on a diet
This is the WhatsApp-specific trap: images above roughly 600 KB are often silently dropped, so you get a text-only preview while every other platform shows the image fine. Compress your og:image (a 1200×630 JPG can easily stay under 150 KB) and keep the URL absolute (https://…).
Use a big enough image
Tiny images produce the small square thumbnail, or no image at all. Use at least 300 px wide; the standard 1200×630 (1.91:1) gives you the large card across platforms.
Beat the cache while testing
WhatsApp caches previews on its servers and inside existing chats — a preview that was already generated will not update. Test your fix by appending a query string (?v=2) or by pasting the link in a different chat.
Code example
<!-- WhatsApp reads standard Open Graph tags -->
<meta property="og:title" content="Your page title" />
<meta property="og:description" content="One or two short sentences." />
<!-- Absolute URL, 1200×630, compressed well under ~600 KB: -->
<meta property="og:image" content="https://yoursite.com/og-image.jpg" />
<meta property="og:url" content="https://yoursite.com/page" />Common mistakes
- A beautiful but heavy hero imageThe 2 MB PNG that looks great on Facebook is exactly why WhatsApp shows no image at all. Weight is the #1 WhatsApp-specific issue — compress first, then debug further.
- Testing in the same chat over and overA chat keeps showing the preview it already generated. Retest in a new chat or with a ?v=2 variant of the URL.
- Relative image pathog:image="/img/social.png" is ignored. WhatsApp needs the full https:// URL.
Frequently asked questions
Why does WhatsApp show no image while Facebook does?
Almost always image weight. WhatsApp drops images that are too heavy (roughly above 600 KB) where Facebook still renders them. Compress the image and test again with a fresh URL variant.
How long does WhatsApp cache a preview?
There is no published number, and previews already rendered inside a chat may never refresh. For testing, always use a query-string variant or a new chat.
Does WhatsApp support special WhatsApp-only tags?
No — it reads the standard Open Graph tags. Get og:title, og:description and a light og:image right and WhatsApp is covered.
Paste your URL and see within two seconds whether everything is right — on every platform.