WhatsApp image sizes for link previews
Last updated: September 20, 2026.
Size figures on this page are placeholders. They are not marked verified because we have not re-checked WhatsApp’s current documentation.
WhatsApp does not have a separate share-image format the way X has Cards. When you paste a URL into a chat, WhatsApp fetches Open Graph tags (and sometimes Twitter tags) from the public page. The picture in the bubble is almost always og:image. This page explains size, crop and fetch failures — not how to send photos from the camera roll. Numbers in the table are placeholders we have not re-checked against current Meta sharing docs, so they stay unverified. A 1200×630 PNG that already works on Facebook is the usual starting point. WhatsApp compresses aggressively and shows the card smaller than a desktop feed, so type must be larger than you think.
Recommended WhatsApp size
| Platform | Image type | Recommended size | Aspect ratio | Max file size |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Link preview | 1200 × 630 px | 1.91:1 | 5 MB |
Official page to re-check:https://developers.facebook.com/docs/sharing/webmasters/images/
How WhatsApp crops your image
The in-chat card is small. WhatsApp may display a landscape strip or a more compact thumbnail depending on client (Android, iOS, desktop). Edge-hugging headlines that look acceptable in a 1200×630 editor can vanish once the bubble is a couple of inches wide. Use fewer words and a heavier weight.
If og:image is portrait, WhatsApp still has to fit a chat card. You will lose top and bottom. Do not use a Pinterest-style 2:3 pin as the only og:image if WhatsApp is a real traffic source.
WhatsApp caches previews per URL on the device and on their servers. Changing the image without changing the URL is a common reason “it works in the browser but not in the chat.” Add a new path, then paste the link into a new conversation after waiting a few minutes.
Three common WhatsApp mistakes
No og:image in the first HTML response
Single-page apps that inject meta tags in useEffect never give WhatsApp a picture. The crawler does not execute your bundle. Render tags on the server or at build time.
An image host that requires a referrer or cookie
Hotlink protection that blocks empty Referer headers will hide the preview. Allow anonymous GET on the PNG. Signed URLs that expire in an hour will also break forwards of the same chat later.
A file that is technically fine but visually faint
WhatsApp compression and a dark chat theme will crush a low-contrast subtitle. Check the generator preview, then look at the PNG on a phone, not only on a calibrated monitor.
Debugging a blank WhatsApp card
There is no official WhatsApp “debugger” comparable to Facebook Sharing Debugger. Confirm the tags in View Source, confirm the image URL in a private window, then test Facebook’s scraper anyway — WhatsApp is in the same company and often fails for the same fetch reasons.
If the page redirects (http to https, trailing slash, locale prefix), make sure every hop is 301/302 to a final 200 that still contains the tags. A redirect chain that lands on a cookie wall will preview as title-only.
Create a WhatsApp-sized OG image
Opens the generator with the WhatsApp size preset selected. Nothing is uploaded.