For WhatsApp chats

    WhatsApp Link Preview Checker

    See the title, description, and thumbnail WhatsApp shows when a link is pasted into a chat.

    Track clicks on this link — create a free LinkPilot account

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    How WhatsApp builds link previews

    WhatsApp reads standard Open Graph tags — og:title, og:description, and og:image — from the page's HTML head. There is no WhatsApp-specific tag set, so a page that previews well elsewhere usually previews on WhatsApp too.

    The preview is generated on the sender's phone at the moment the URL is pasted, before the message is sent, and is then attached to the message. Recipients see whatever the sender's device fetched — so if the sender pasted the link while your tags were still wrong, that stale card is what the whole group sees.

    Image handling is the main WhatsApp-specific trap. For most links WhatsApp shows a small square thumbnail cropped from the centre of og:image, so an image with the subject or text at the edges loses it. Very small images are skipped entirely: og:image should be at least about 300 pixels wide, and keeping the file compact (well under a megabyte) avoids the preview silently dropping the image on slow connections.

    WhatsApp fetches pages with its own user agent (it identifies itself as WhatsApp). Bot-protection rules or CDN firewalls that block unknown user agents return an error page to it and the preview comes back with no image, or nothing at all — check that the URL returns a 200 to non-browser clients.

    There is no public WhatsApp debugger and previews are cached per device. To force a fresh fetch after fixing tags, append a throwaway query parameter (for example ?v=2) so the URL is treated as new, or paste the link again after the fix has propagated.

    Common use cases

    Group-share readiness

    Check the card once before a link goes out to a WhatsApp community — the sender's first paste is what everyone sees.

    Square-crop QA

    Confirm the centre of og:image survives the small square thumbnail WhatsApp uses on most links.

    Diagnosing a missing image

    Spot og:image tags that are too small, too heavy, or served from a host that blocks WhatsApp's user agent.

    Customer-support links

    Make help-centre and order-status URLs render a trustworthy card in one-to-one chats.

    Frequently asked questions

    Other Open Graph Preview variants

    Pre-configured variants tuned to specific platforms and use cases.

    For LinkedIn shares

    LinkedIn Link Preview Checker

    See how your URL looks when shared on LinkedIn — before you post.

    Open variant

    For Slack unfurls

    Slack Link Preview Checker

    Check how your URL unfurls inside Slack messages and channels.

    Open variant

    For X / Twitter Cards

    X (Twitter) Card Preview Checker

    Preview how your URL renders as a Twitter Card on X.

    Open variant

    For Facebook shares

    Facebook Link Preview Checker

    Inspect how your URL will render in a Facebook post or share.

    Open variant

    For Discord embeds

    Discord Link Preview Checker

    See how Discord embeds your URL inside a channel or DM.

    Open variant

    For Telegram messages

    Telegram Link Preview Checker

    See how Telegram renders your URL in chats, groups, and channels.

    Open variant

    For iMessage rich links

    iMessage Link Preview Checker

    See the rich link card Apple Messages builds from your og:title and og:image.

    Open variant
    Back to the full Open Graph Preview

    Get more from your links

    The WhatsApp Link Preview Checker is just the start. Create a free LinkPilot workspace to track every click, manage custom domains, and share securely with your team.

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