Add Open Graph metadata to the page’s HTML <head>, especially og:image, which points to an absolute, publicly accessible image URL. This makes the page eligible for a WhatsApp link preview; it cannot guarantee a preview in every message.
Add Open Graph tags to the page head
Put the metadata in the initial HTML document’s <head>, not only in content added after the page loads. Use page-specific values:
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<head>
<meta property="og:title" content="Page title">
<meta property="og:description" content="A short description of the page.">
<meta property="og:url" content="https://example.com/page">
<meta property="og:image" content="https://example.com/images/share-image.jpg">
</head>Replace the example text and URLs with details for the page you are sharing. Set og:url to the canonical page URL, without session variables, user-identifying parameters, or counters. The WhatsApp-attributed guidance reproduced by ChatArchitect specifies that the head containing the markup must occur within the first 300 KB of the HTML response. That limit applies to the location of the head, not the size of the entire document.
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Prepare an image WhatsApp can fetch
- Use an absolute image URL, such as
https://example.com/images/share-image.jpg, rather than a relative path. - Make the image and the page publicly accessible without a sign-in.
- Keep the image file under 600 KB, at least 300 pixels wide, and at a width-to-height ratio of 4:1 or less, as specified in the WhatsApp-attributed guidance reproduced by ChatArchitect.
Choose an image that represents the specific page, and provide nonempty values for og:title, og:description, and og:url as well as og:image.
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Set the metadata in your CMS or website code
The right editing route depends on how the site is built. A website builder or CMS may provide fields for social-sharing metadata; a custom site may require editing its HTML template or server-rendered page. Whichever route you use, check the published page rather than assuming the editor’s preview reflects the HTML WhatsApp receives.
- Confirm you can set page-specific Open Graph values rather than one shared image and title for every URL.
- Confirm the tags appear in the initial HTML head, early enough in the response.
- Confirm the image URL is absolute and accessible without authentication.
Test the published URL in WhatsApp
- Publish the page and its image.
- Copy the exact full page URL.
- Paste it into a WhatsApp message composer and inspect the preview before sending.
A URL that opens normally may still show no preview card. Open Graph metadata makes the page eligible for a preview, but does not guarantee that WhatsApp will always display one.
Troubleshoot a missing thumbnail
- No preview appears: Inspect the returned HTML and verify that the Open Graph tags are in the initial
<head>, not merely inserted into visible page content or added later by client-side JavaScript. - The image is missing: Check that
og:imagecontains a complete HTTPS URL and that the image can be fetched publicly without a sign-in. - The preview has the wrong details: Check that the published page has nonempty, page-specific values for all four tags and that
og:urlis the intended canonical URL. - The tags look correct but WhatsApp still shows no card: Check the sender’s preview privacy setting. WhatsApp says that enabling Disable link previews prevents links sent from that account from generating previews; it does not affect previews received from other people. Find it under Settings > Privacy > Advanced in WhatsApp’s Help Center guidance.
The available guidance does not establish a cache duration or an official cache-reset procedure, so a particular waiting period or reset workaround cannot be promised.
Or skip the browser setup
ScreenshotNeo can return a screenshot of a public page through one API request. This produces an image file; it does not add Open Graph tags to your page or itself make WhatsApp show a link preview. For a visual check of a published page, use this cURL example (replace the target URL and API key):
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curl -G "https://api.screenshotneo.com/v1/shot" -d access_key=YOUR_API_KEY --data-urlencode url=https://example.com/page -o shot.webpSee the ScreenshotNeo documentation for API details. ScreenshotNeo accepts cookie or consent banners before capture and removes more than 60 known consent platforms, newsletter popups, and chat widgets; those steps can be turned off. Bot checks, blank pages, timeouts, failed loads, and cache hits cost nothing, and response headers report the page verdict and billing status. Its MCP server includes tools for AI agents to take screenshots. The Free plan includes 1,000 shots per month without a card; paid plans start at $5 for 3,000 shots. Learn more at ScreenshotNeo, or sign up for 1,000 free screenshots a month with no card.
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