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How to Make a Web Page Link Preview Appear in iMessage

To show a rich link preview in iMessage, put page-specific Open Graph metadata in the HTML source and provide a suitable site icon and image.

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To make a web page show a rich preview in iMessage, add Open Graph metadata to the page’s HTML source—especially og:title and og:image—and provide a site icon. The metadata must be available in the page source; tags added only after JavaScript runs may not be used when Messages creates the preview.

What controls an iMessage link preview?

When someone shares a web page, Messages can use metadata on that page to build a card with a title and image. Apple’s guidance focuses on Open Graph tags such as og:title and og:image, alongside a declared site icon. These tags help a site owner specify the content, but they do not guarantee that every device will render an identical card.

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This setup is for the owner or developer of the linked website. If you are sharing someone else’s page, you cannot change its preview metadata yourself.

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Add Open Graph tags to the page

Write a concise, page-specific title

Set og:title to a short title that identifies the page. Keep the site’s branding in og:site_name rather than repeating it in every page title.

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Choose an image for that page

Set og:image to an absolute URL for an image that represents the specific page. Apple advises against putting text in the preview artwork: cards can appear at different sizes, making text difficult to read.

Example markup

Place metadata in the document’s HTML source, typically inside <head>. Replace the example values and URLs with ones for your page and site.

<head>
  <title>Guide to Growing Tomatoes</title>
  <meta property="og:title" content="Guide to Growing Tomatoes">
  <meta property="og:site_name" content="Example Garden">
  <meta property="og:image" content="https://example.com/images/tomato-guide.jpg">
  <link rel="apple-touch-icon" href="https://example.com/apple-touch-icon.png">
  <link rel="icon" href="https://example.com/favicon.ico">
</head>

The example includes both an Apple touch icon and a favicon. Apple says Messages may use an Apple touch icon, favicon, or another declared icon; an icon is still useful when a page-specific image is present and can act as a fallback if the image is unavailable.

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Make the metadata available when Messages fetches the page

Put the Open Graph tags in the HTML source returned for the linked page. Messages does not run JavaScript to create rich links, so metadata inserted only by client-side JavaScript may not be available. Apple’s Safari and WebKit team states: “It’s important to keep in mind that JavaScript does not run when creating rich links, so the Open Graph tags need to be in the source of the page and cannot be generated dynamically.”

Apple also says rich-link creation does not follow meta redirects, although it does follow server-side redirects. Ensure the final page reached through any server-side redirect returns the intended metadata. For a page that requires authentication, provide useful preview metadata without exposing private page content.

Meet Apple’s published image and resource guidance

Apple’s Technical Note TN3156, published in 2024, gives the following image dimensions and resource-size guidance. These are Apple’s published recommendations and limits, not a guarantee that every client will display assets identically.

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Item Apple’s published guidance
Site icon Square and at least 108 × 108 pixels
Preview image At least 900 pixels wide
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Associated icons, images, and videos combined Limited to 10 MB

Use an image that remains understandable when reduced to a small card, and keep the page and associated assets within the published size guidance. A large image with fine detail or embedded lettering may be less useful at preview size than clear, page-relevant artwork.

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Use video only when the media itself can play

Apple describes inline playback for a directly linked, downloadable, playable media asset referenced with og:video or twitter:player:stream. An HLS stream requires a tap to start, and a video embedded in HTML does not play inline in the rich link. If inline playback matters, a directly accessible playable file is the more suitable choice than an HTML-dependent embed.

Test the page and troubleshoot missing previews

Check the source, not just the browser’s rendered page

  • Inspect the HTML returned for the page and confirm og:title and og:image are present there, rather than being added only after JavaScript runs.
  • Confirm the image value is an absolute URL and that the image is available to the page fetcher.
  • Confirm a suitable icon is declared and that image and resource sizes follow Apple’s published guidance.
  • If the page redirects, check that it uses a server-side redirect and that the destination serves the intended metadata.

If the preview is missing or looks different

First correct the page source, image availability, icon declaration, redirects, and resource sizes. Apple’s published guidance does not establish a guaranteed way to force-refresh an existing preview, nor does it promise identical rendering across all devices. Do not rely on a cache-clearing trick as a guaranteed fix.

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Or skip the browser setup

If your goal is to capture a webpage as an image or PDF—not to configure the metadata that iMessage uses for link cards—you can use ScreenshotNeo, a website screenshot API and MCP server. Its API returns a screenshot or PDF; it does not add Open Graph tags or force an iMessage preview.

One GET request can capture a page. See the ScreenshotNeo documentation for the API details.

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curl -G "https://api.screenshotneo.com/v1/shot" -d access_key=YOUR_API_KEY --data-urlencode url=https://stripe.com -o shot.webp

ScreenshotNeo accepts cookie or consent banners and removes more than 60 known consent platforms, newsletter popups, and chat widgets before capture; each step can be turned off. Bot checks or CAPTCHAs, blank pages, timeouts, failed loads, and cache hits are not billed, and responses include X-Page-Verdict and X-Billed headers. Its MCP server provides take_screenshot, get_page_info, and capture_pdf tools for Claude, Cursor, and other MCP clients. The Free plan includes 1,000 shots per month with no card; paid plans start at $5 for 3,000 shots.

Sign up for ScreenshotNeo’s free plan: 1,000 screenshots a month, no card required.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Can I change the preview for a link someone else owns?

No. The site owner controls the page metadata that Messages can use. You can change it only if you can edit that website’s source.

Does a screenshot API create or fix an iMessage link preview?

No. A screenshot API captures the page as an image or PDF; the site’s Open Graph metadata determines the link preview.

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