This free link preview tool shows you exactly how a URL will render when shared on LinkedIn, Facebook, X (Twitter), Slack, Microsoft Teams, and other platforms that read Open Graph metadata. Paste any URL, see side-by-side previews for each platform, and catch broken images, missing descriptions, or stale cached versions before your next campaign goes out.

It’s free, requires no account, and is most useful for B2B teams who distribute content through LinkedIn, partner channels, email, and internal Slack communities, where every share lands in front of decision-makers.

  1. Enter your URL in the field above.
  2. The tool fetches your page’s Open Graph and Twitter Card metadata (og:title, og:description, og:image, twitter:card, twitter:image, and related tags).
  3. Side-by-side previews render showing how the URL will appear on each major platform.
  4. Identify mismatches or missing tags and fix them in your page template or CMS before sharing.

The tool is read-only. It does not modify your site; it just shows you what each platform will display when someone shares your URL.

Open Graph and Twitter Card metadata explained

Every link preview you see in a feed is generated from metadata in the page’s HTML head. Two standards do most of the work.

Open Graph is a metadata convention originally introduced by Facebook in 2010 and now adopted by LinkedIn, Slack, Microsoft Teams, Discord, iMessage, and most messaging apps. The core tags:

  • og:title: the headline that appears in the preview
  • og:description: the supporting text under the title
  • og:image: the image URL the platform displays
  • og:url: the canonical URL of the page
  • og:type: the content type (article, website, video.other, etc.)

Twitter Cards are X’s variant. Same idea, different tag names:

  • twitter:card: the card type (summary, summary_large_image, app, player)
  • twitter:title: the headline
  • twitter:description: the supporting text
  • twitter:image: the preview image

Most modern sites declare both Open Graph and Twitter Cards. X falls back to Open Graph tags if Twitter Cards are missing, but the result is less predictable.

Platform-specific preview rules

Each platform has subtle differences in how it renders shared links. Knowing the rules helps you debug fast.

LinkedIn

Image size: 1200x627 pixels for the large preview card. Title clips around 200 characters; description clips around 300. LinkedIn caches previews aggressively (up to 7 days). Use the LinkedIn Post Inspector (linkedin.com/post-inspector) to refresh the cache after updating Open Graph tags.

LinkedIn’s most common gotcha: a missing or low-resolution og:image produces a small thumbnail-only preview with no large image, which dramatically reduces engagement on the post.

Facebook (Meta)

Image size: 1200x630 pixels for the large card. Facebook respects both og:image and og:image:secure_url (HTTPS variant). The Sharing Debugger (developers.facebook.com/tools/debug) is the official cache-refresh tool. If a preview looks wrong, paste the URL there and click “Scrape Again.”

Facebook will downgrade the preview to a smaller card if your image is below 600x315 or if it cannot fetch the image (most commonly because the URL is behind a paywall, requires authentication, or returns a 403 to the Facebook crawler).

X (Twitter)

Card types: summary (small thumbnail next to text), summary_large_image (full-width image above text), app (mobile app install), player (embedded video or audio). For B2B content distribution, summary_large_image is almost always the right choice.

Image size: 1200x630 pixels for summary_large_image. X caches previews and exposes the Card Validator (cards-dev.twitter.com/validator, if still available; X has restructured these tools repeatedly). Many teams now rely on the link preview tool above plus the Sharing Debugger pattern from Facebook.

Slack and Microsoft Teams

Slack and Teams unfurl links using Open Graph plus oEmbed. The same og:title, og:description, and og:image that drive LinkedIn and Facebook previews drive Slack unfurls. Slack’s cache is shorter than LinkedIn’s (often refreshes within minutes), so previews update faster after you fix metadata.

For B2B teams that share content in customer Slack communities, internal Slack workspaces, or partner Teams channels, getting Slack unfurls right is as important as LinkedIn.

iMessage and other messaging apps

iMessage, WhatsApp, Discord, and Signal all use Open Graph (Twitter Cards in some cases). They typically refresh the preview every time the link is sent, which makes them easier to debug than LinkedIn but harder to standardize across platforms.

The patterns below account for most broken previews we see in B2B distribution.

  • Wrong image: the platform cached an old og:image before you updated it. Use the platform-specific cache refresher (LinkedIn Post Inspector, Facebook Sharing Debugger).
  • No image: og:image is missing, points to a 404, returns a 403 to the crawler, or is below the minimum size (usually 600x315). Add a proper og:image and republish.
  • Generic favicon instead of an image: same as no image. The platform fell back to the favicon because it could not find or fetch a valid og:image.
  • Wrong title: og:title is missing, so the platform pulled the HTML <title> element instead. Add og:title explicitly.
  • No description: og:description is missing, so the platform either left the description blank or pulled a random snippet of body text. Add og:description.
  • HTTP vs HTTPS mismatch: the page is on HTTPS but og:image points to an HTTP URL. Modern platforms refuse to load mixed content; switch the image to HTTPS.
  • Dynamic OG images that fail to render: serverless og:image generators (like Vercel OG Image or Next.js’s @vercel/og) sometimes return a 500 or take too long for the crawler. Use the link preview tool to confirm the image loads from a fresh fetch.
  • Stale staging URLs: someone tested the preview on a staging URL and the cached preview persists. Always test the production URL.

Each platform has its own cache-refresh mechanism:

  • LinkedIn: paste the URL into LinkedIn Post Inspector and let it re-scrape.
  • Facebook (Meta): paste into Sharing Debugger and click “Scrape Again.”
  • X (Twitter): cache refresh has changed multiple times. Currently, posting and deleting a tweet with the URL often forces a re-scrape, or wait for X to expire the cache (usually 7 days).
  • Slack: in the Slack workspace, type /remind me to refresh this link in 1 minute and Slack often re-fetches the URL on the next post. For more reliable refresh, change the URL slug or add a fragment identifier (#refresh1).

What image size should I use for social previews?

The safe answer is 1200x630 pixels (aspect ratio 1.91:1). This size works well on every major platform:

  • LinkedIn (1200x627 spec, rounds the same)
  • Facebook (1200x630)
  • X (1200x630 for summary_large_image)
  • Slack (uses the image as-is, but 1200x630 looks clean)
  • iMessage and Discord (same)

Keep the file size under 1 MB. Use JPG or PNG; SVG is not supported by most platforms. WebP is supported on most modern platforms but has spottier compatibility with older email clients that also render Open Graph previews.

For B2B content distribution, the link preview is often the first thing a prospect sees. A LinkedIn share, an email forward, a Slack post in a customer community: each of these renders an Open Graph preview before the recipient clicks. A broken preview (wrong image, blank description, generic favicon) signals neglect and reduces click-through rate substantially.

The compound effect across a B2B distribution program is real. If your content gets shared 100 times per week and the preview is broken, you lose a meaningful share of impressions to a poor first impression. Fixing it is a 30-minute, one-time task that pays back across every share.

How to fix preview issues on a CMS that auto-generates tags

Most modern CMS platforms generate Open Graph and Twitter Card tags automatically, but the defaults often need overrides for individual pages.

  • WordPress: Yoast SEO, Rank Math, and All in One SEO all have per-page social fields. Set Open Graph title, description, and image explicitly for any high-value page.
  • Webflow: each Collection Item and CMS-driven page has an Open Graph section. Set Open Graph image dimensions to 1200x630 in the CMS field constraints.
  • Shopify: Shopify generates basic Open Graph tags from the product or page data. Override via the theme’s Liquid templates or an app like SEO Manager.
  • Astro: declare Open Graph and Twitter Card meta tags in your layout template, reading from the page’s frontmatter. Tools like astro-seo simplify this.
  • HubSpot CMS: each page has a social settings panel; set og:image per page, especially for landing pages and blog posts.

After updating tags on any platform, validate with the link preview tool above before sharing.

Link preview tool vs social media post simulator

This tool and the social media post simulator are easy to confuse. They solve different problems.

  • Link preview tool (this page): validates how a URL renders as an auto-generated preview card on LinkedIn, Facebook, X, Slack, etc. Use this when you’re sharing an existing page and want to confirm the preview looks right before you post or send the URL.
  • Social media post simulator: lets you design and preview an entire social post (text, image, hashtags) before publishing. Use that when you’re composing a post from scratch, not when you’re sharing an external URL.

Most B2B distribution workflows use both: the simulator to design the post copy, then the link preview tool to confirm the shared URL renders correctly.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does the link preview tool do?

The link preview tool shows you how any URL will render when shared on LinkedIn, Facebook, X (Twitter), Slack, and other platforms that read Open Graph and Twitter Card metadata. It surfaces the title, description, and image each platform will use, so you can fix mismatched or broken previews before the link goes out in a campaign, email, or post.

Which platforms are supported by this link preview tool?

The tool simulates previews for the platforms that follow the Open Graph and Twitter Card standards, including LinkedIn, Facebook, X (Twitter), Slack, Microsoft Teams, Discord, and most messaging apps. Each platform has slightly different rendering rules (image size, title length, card type), and the tool accounts for those differences.

What is an Open Graph tag?

Open Graph is a metadata standard originally created by Facebook in 2010 and now used by nearly every platform that previews shared links. The most common Open Graph tags are og:title (the headline), og:description (the supporting text), og:image (the preview image), og:url (the canonical URL), and og:type (the content type, like article or website). When a platform reads a shared URL, it scrapes the Open Graph tags from the page's HTML and uses them to render the preview card.

What's the difference between Open Graph and Twitter Cards?

Open Graph is a general metadata standard read by LinkedIn, Facebook, Slack, and most platforms. Twitter Cards are X's (Twitter's) proprietary version with different tag names (twitter:title, twitter:description, twitter:image, twitter:card). Most modern sites declare both so previews look right on every platform. If only Open Graph tags are present, X will fall back to them but may render the preview differently.

Why is my LinkedIn preview showing the wrong image?

Three usual causes: LinkedIn cached an old version of your page before you updated the Open Graph tags, your og:image points to a small or low-resolution image (LinkedIn requires at least 1200x627 pixels for the large preview), or LinkedIn cannot fetch the image (often a 403 from your CDN or an http-vs-https mismatch). Use LinkedIn's Post Inspector at linkedin.com/post-inspector to refresh the cache and validate.

How do I clear LinkedIn's link preview cache?

LinkedIn caches previews aggressively, sometimes for 7 days. To force a refresh, paste your URL into LinkedIn Post Inspector (linkedin.com/post-inspector). The Inspector will re-scrape the URL and display the fresh preview. The newly cached version is what every subsequent share of that URL will use until LinkedIn re-checks (usually next time the page changes).

How do I clear Facebook's link preview cache?

Use Facebook's Sharing Debugger at developers.facebook.com/tools/debug. Paste your URL and click 'Scrape Again'. Facebook will re-fetch your Open Graph tags and refresh its cached preview. This is the official tool and the only reliable way to invalidate Facebook's cache.

What image size should I use for Open Graph?

1200x630 pixels is the safe size that works well on every major platform. LinkedIn renders the large card at this aspect ratio. Facebook supports it. X uses summary_large_image at the same dimensions. Smaller images (under 600x315) trigger smaller preview cards or no image at all on some platforms. Keep file size under 1 MB and use JPG or PNG; SVG is not supported by most platforms.

Does Slack use Open Graph?

Yes. Slack unfurls links using Open Graph and oEmbed standards. The same og:title, og:description, and og:image tags that drive LinkedIn and Facebook previews also drive Slack unfurls. This is especially relevant for B2B teams sharing content in Slack-based communities or distributing in customer channels.

Why is optimizing social media link previews important?

The link preview is the first thing a prospect sees when your content is shared. A broken preview (wrong image, blank description, generic favicon) signals neglect and reduces click-through rate. For B2B distribution in particular, where every share lands in front of decision-makers, getting previews right is a small investment with compound returns across every campaign.

Does this tool change my website metadata?

No. The link preview tool is read-only. It reads your existing Open Graph and Twitter Card tags from the URL you submit and shows you how each platform will render them. To change the metadata, you update the tags in your page template (or your CMS's SEO plugin) and republish.

What metadata affects social media previews?

Primarily Open Graph tags (og:title, og:description, og:image, og:url, og:type) and Twitter Card tags (twitter:card, twitter:title, twitter:description, twitter:image). Additional context comes from the page's HTML title, the canonical URL, and structured data when relevant. The link preview tool validates all of these and flags missing or malformed values.

What's the difference between this tool and the social media post simulator?

Different intent. This link preview tool validates how a URL renders when shared (the embedded card pattern that LinkedIn, Facebook, and Slack auto-generate from your metadata). The [social media post simulator](/tools/social-media-post-simulator) is for designing a full social post mockup before publishing. Use this one when you're testing how a blog post or landing page will look in someone's feed after they share it; use the simulator when you're designing the post itself.