WhatsApp Link Preview Checker
Test how your links appear when shared in WhatsApp chats and groups
Paste multiple URLs to check Open Graph previews in bulk. We’ll analyze up to 5 pages at a time.
About This WhatsApp Checker
WhatsApp is the world's most used messaging app with over 2 billion active users, making it one of the largest channels for link sharing globally — yet it's consistently overlooked in social media optimization strategies. When someone shares your link in a WhatsApp chat or group, it generates a link preview card showing your title, description, and image. A compelling preview dramatically increases the likelihood that recipients will click.
WhatsApp reads standard Open Graph meta tags to generate its link previews. Unlike Facebook or Twitter, WhatsApp doesn't have a dedicated debugging tool or publicly documented crawler — making it harder to test and debug WhatsApp-specific preview issues. Understanding how WhatsApp handles OG tags differently from other platforms is essential for optimizing your content for messaging-based sharing.
WhatsApp link sharing is particularly significant for viral content, consumer brands, and markets where WhatsApp is the primary communication channel (India, Brazil, Southeast Asia, Europe). For these audiences, WhatsApp preview optimization can have a greater impact on traffic than Facebook or Twitter optimization.
How WhatsApp Generates Link Previews
WhatsApp's preview generation differs from other social platforms in several important ways. WhatsApp displays link preview images in a near-square crop rather than the standard landscape format used by Facebook and Twitter. The preview area is more compact, showing a smaller thumbnail alongside the title — meaning image clarity at small sizes matters more than on other platforms.
WhatsApp also generates previews on the sender's device, not on a server, which means preview generation speed depends on the sender's network connection and WhatsApp's local caching. This creates inconsistent preview behavior — some recipients may see a full preview while others see just a bare link, depending on timing and connectivity.
WhatsApp's crawler (WhatsApp which uses Whatsapp/2.0 as its user agent) behaves differently from Facebook's or Twitter's crawlers. It tends to be more conservative with caching and may re-fetch OG data more frequently. However, it also has stricter requirements around image accessibility — images served from CDNs with unusual headers can fail to load in WhatsApp previews even when they display correctly in browsers.
Key Considerations for WhatsApp
WhatsApp's Square Image Crop
WhatsApp displays images in a compact, near-square format rather than the landscape format used by Facebook and Twitter. The center of your OG image is cropped for display. Ensure your key visual content — logo, main subject, important text — is centered in the image and remains clear and recognizable at small sizes.
Mobile-First Context
WhatsApp is almost exclusively a mobile experience. Link previews appear in a chat context where users are on small screens with limited attention. Titles should be punchy and immediately clear — there's no space for cleverness or ambiguity in a WhatsApp preview. The description is often not shown depending on the chat layout.
Network and CDN Considerations
WhatsApp generates previews using the sender's network connection. Images hosted on CDNs with strict access controls, unusual cache headers, or non-standard CORS policies may fail to load in WhatsApp previews. Ensure your og:image is served from a reliable, widely-accessible CDN with standard headers.
Chat and Group Context
WhatsApp links are shared in personal chats and groups where the sharing context is highly personal. Unlike public social feeds, WhatsApp shares come with implicit trust — the recipient knows the sender personally. This means click-through rates are inherently higher, making even a basic working preview valuable.
Common WhatsApp Issues
Image Display Problems
- •Image not appearing in WhatsApp preview despite working on Facebook and Twitter
- •Wrong portion of image showing due to WhatsApp's center-crop behavior
- •Image too small to display clearly in WhatsApp's compact preview format
- •CDN-hosted images failing to load due to cache-control or CORS headers
Preview Generation Failures
- •No preview appearing at all when link is pasted in WhatsApp
- •Preview showing for some recipients but not others due to network-based generation
- •Preview appearing on first share then disappearing in subsequent messages
- •HTTPS certificate issues preventing WhatsApp's crawler from fetching the page
Content Issues
- •Title truncated in WhatsApp's compact preview layout
- •Description not appearing in individual chat previews
- •Site name not displaying correctly in WhatsApp preview
- •Outdated preview persisting due to WhatsApp's local cache on sender's device
How to Fix WhatsApp Issues
OG Tags Optimized for WhatsApp
Configure your OG tags with WhatsApp's compact, mobile preview format in mind:
<head>
<!-- Keep title short — WhatsApp truncates aggressively -->
<meta property="og:title" content="Short, Clear Title Under 50 Characters" />
<!-- Description shown inconsistently — make title self-sufficient -->
<meta property="og:description" content="Supporting context if shown. Keep under 100 characters." />
<!-- Image centered on key content for WhatsApp's square crop -->
<meta property="og:image" content="https://yourdomain.com/og-image-centered.jpg" />
<meta property="og:image:width" content="1200" />
<meta property="og:image:height" content="630" />
<!-- Always HTTPS — WhatsApp requires secure content -->
<meta property="og:url" content="https://yourdomain.com/your-page" />
<meta property="og:site_name" content="Your Site Name" />
</head>Fix CDN Headers for WhatsApp Image Loading
Configure your CDN or server to serve OG images with headers that WhatsApp's crawler accepts:
# Next.js next.config.js — Add headers for OG images
module.exports = {
async headers() {
return [
{
source: "/og/:path*",
headers: [
{
key: "Cache-Control",
value: "public, max-age=86400, stale-while-revalidate=604800",
},
{
key: "Access-Control-Allow-Origin",
value: "*", // Allow WhatsApp crawler to access images
},
],
},
];
},
};Center-Crop Safe OG Image Design
Design OG images that work both as landscape (Facebook/Twitter) and center-cropped square (WhatsApp):
/*
Design for dual-format OG images (1200x630px):
Full image (Facebook/Twitter/LinkedIn):
┌──────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Left content │ CENTER CONTENT │ Right │
│ (optional) │ ◄ 630px wide ► │ │
└──────────────────────────────────────────┘
WhatsApp crops center 630x630px:
┌───────────────┐
│ │
│ Keep logo, │
│ main image, │
│ key text │
│ HERE │
│ │
└───────────────┘
Strategy: Put your logo/brand in center.
Put supporting context on sides (visible on
desktop platforms, cropped on WhatsApp).
*/Common Use Cases
- Testing viral content links before sharing in WhatsApp groups
- Verifying consumer brand links display correctly in messaging contexts
- Checking links for markets where WhatsApp dominates (India, Brazil, Europe)
- Debugging why WhatsApp shows no preview for certain URLs
- Optimizing e-commerce product links shared via WhatsApp
Pro Tip
Since WhatsApp generates previews on the sender's device, test by actually sending your link to yourself in WhatsApp on a mobile device — this is more reliable than any desktop preview tool. Try it on both iOS and Android if you can, as WhatsApp's preview rendering can differ between platforms.