Are you getting LARGE Facebook Link Thumbnail images?
Or are you stuck with tiny postage-stamp sized link previews?
In 2014, Facebook upped the minimum size required to get those lovely large links!
Now you need to change the way you create blog images, AND share links on Facebook.
Why Care About Facebook Link Thumbnails?
Standard link posts (that is, with the link preview generated by Facebook) are getting better click-throughs than other ways to share links recommended in the past.
With the large preview image, that can only get better – IF you take advantage of it!
We will cover:
- How to share a link on your Facebook Page
- Facebook link thumbnail size in the news feed
- Why don’t I get a large Facebook link thumbnail?
- Blog image size for best Facebook link preview
- Facebook link ad size
- How to preview a Facebook post with the Facebook share debugger
- How to change or remove a Facebook link preview
- How to restore a missing link image
- How to get a link to a Facebook post
Lots of good stuff, so let’s get started!
This post was originally published in June 2014 and last updated March 2020.
How to share a link with preview on your Facebook Page
You can share using the web page’s share button, or paste the link into an update on your Page.
Don’t forget to include a question to generate comments, or a curiosity-provoking description to get clicks to the site.
I recommend posting the link on Facebook, because you get more image options!
When you share a link on your Page, you can include a preview in your post. The preview can include up to 10 images with descriptions and unique destination URLs.
To share a link on your Facebook Page:
1 | Click in Write a post… at the top of your Page’s timeline and enter the link you want to share.
2 |Customize the preview. Images from the webpage may automatically be added to your post’s preview. There are several ways to customize the preview:
- Add or Remove Images: You can remove an image from the preview by clicking the thumbnail below Available images. Click + to add an image from your computer.
- Edit Descriptions: If you’ve added multiple images, click the description below each image in the preview to edit it.
- Edit Destination URLs: To edit the destination URL for an image in the preview, hover over the image and click
.
4 | Click Publish. source
What’s the Facebook link thumbnail size in the News Feed?
On desktop, a large link preview will appear at 470 x 246 pixels. On mobile, the link preview will appear at 560×292 pixels.
If your blog post image isn’t big enough, then it will render as 154 x 154 or 90 x 90 px (the largest available size). BIG difference!
Facebook says:
Use images that are at least 1200 x 630 pixels for the best display on high resolution devices. At the minimum, you should use images that are 600 x 315 pixels to display link page posts with larger images. If your image is smaller than 600 x 315 px, it will still display in the link page post, but the size will be much smaller.*
And that nice, big image (with its text box) links to the blog post when clicked, making it much easier for viewers to get to your blog posts.
*Note: Sometimes Facebook says 1200 x 628 and 600 x 314 pixels. I have no idea why this 1-pixel discrepancy, but I doubt it matters.
Why didn’t I get a large Facebook link thumbnail?
There must be a large enough image on the web page you wish to share on Facebook.
The Facebook Help Team says:
Images that are at least 470×246 pixels will display as a rectangle with the title and description below. Images that are smaller than 470×246 pixels will display as a square with the title and description to the right.
The only way to adjust your post back to having a rectangle image is to choose an image that fits the size requirements. source
I hear that the minimum size doesn’t always work. This is still what Facebook is recommending! source
If it’s not working for you, the solution is simple: make it bigger! Go with 1200 x 630.
Additionally, sometimes the preview before you publish looks small, but still posts as large. Try the Facebook link debugger further down.
Blog image sizes for maximum impact on Facebook
Facebook recommends 1200 x 628 pixel size for link share images. The minimum size suggested to ensure a large preview image is 600 x 314 pixels.
The common denominator with all these link thumbnail image sizes is an aspect ratio of 1.91 wide to 1 tall. So you could take the height of your image and multiply it by 1.91 to determine the proper width.
I now make all my blog header images to the width of my blog’s content column – which is 720 pixels.
So my Facebook link shares are 720 x 377, which is a 1.91:1 aspect ratio. My pins are 720 x 1080, which is Pinterest’s recommended 2:3 Pin size.
If you don’t want that horizontal image, use any shape image that’s at least 600 pixels wide to generate a large link preview. NOTE: the top and bottom will be cut off in the link thumbnail. The image in the thumbnail below was a 624 pixel square on the blog post.
I recommend creating an image at least 600 x 314 pixels for each of your new blog posts going forward. Any smaller, and your link posts will be at a big disadvantage in the news feed.
If you have older posts that you (or readers) will be sharing on Facebook, and especially if you plan to run one as a Page Post Link Ad, you’d be smart to create a new, larger image for that blog post. Bigger images on blog posts look more up-to-date, too.
If you don’t want the image to be visible on your blog at all, you can set the link preview image using Open Graph (og:image) tags. A WordPress plugin like Yoast SEO makes this easy to do.
What’s the Facebook link ad size?
You can use the same 1.91:1 aspect ratio image as a normal, organic, non-paid link share.
But you can go larger! Facebook recommends a square for link ads.
NEW: You can go up to 4:5 aspect ratio now, which is a portrait image size on Instagram.
Larger images are always more eye-catching. And if you’re popping for an ad, might as well get your money’s worth, right?
Use images that are at least 1080 pixels in width for best display on high resolution devices. At the minimum, you should use images that are 600 pixels in width to display image link ads. We recommend using 1:1 images in your ad creatives for better performance with image link ads.
How to preview your post with the Facebook share debugger
When content is shared for the first time, the Facebook crawler will scrape and cache the metadata from the URL shared. The crawler has to see an image at least once before it can be rendered.
This means that the first person who shares a piece of content won’t see a rendered image:
There are two ways to avoid this and have images render on the first Like or Share action:
1. Pre-cache the image with the Sharing Debugger
Run the URL through the URL debugger to pre-fetch metadata for the page. You should also do this if you update the image for a piece of content.
2. Use og:image:width and og:image:height Open Graph tags
Using these tags will specify the image dimensions to the crawler so that it can render the image immediately without having to asynchronously download and process it.
As mentioned above, you can use a plugin like Yoast SEO if you’re not a techie!
Getting your meta-tags and social plugins correct can take a bit of tweaking, so use the debug tool to test how your pages are viewed by Facebook’s scraper.
Just enter your page URL, and you’ll get a page of useful information, such as the meta-tags that are being picked up from your page and any errors or warnings with your content that might affect social plugins. source
Please consult your website developer or tech-savvy friend with questions about this stuff, as I’m not qualified to troubleshoot!
How can I change or remove my Facebook link preview?
If you’re posting your link right on Facebook – as opposed to sharing from your blog’s social sharing buttons – you can select which image to use as the link preview.
All images picked up by Facebook are pulled in and highlighted as tiny images at the bottom of the Publish box (note blue outline).
Deselect any you don’t want to show in your Facebook post by clicking on it. The blue outline will disappear.
You can delete all but one if you like – up to you.
If you leave several outlined, viewers will be able to scroll through them in a “carousel.”
To remove the preview from your post:
- Unselect all images by clicking the thumbnails at the bottom.
- Hover over the preview image.
- Click x in the top-right corner. source
Facebook announced on June 28 2017, you will no longer be able to customize link metadata (i.e. headline, description, OR thumbnail image) in any link shares on Facebook.
While you can still choose which pulled-in image becomes the preview, you’ll no longer be able to edit the link thumbnail image, title, or description of a link preview.
Facebook explained why you can’t edit link metadata:
By removing the ability to customize link metadata (i.e. headline, description, image) from all link sharing entry points on Facebook, we are eliminating a channel that has been abused to post false news.
We’re working to find other solutions that allow publishers to share customized content on our platform, and we will have more to share in the coming weeks. As we make these changes, content creators maintain the ability to control how their links appear on Facebook using Open Graph meta tags. source
Be sure to set your Open Graph meta tags the way you want your link share to look before you publish your blog post!
To preview how your link will look when posted on Facebook, use the sharing debugger.
Note that you can remove the URL from the text when you’re happy with the link preview. It’s no longer needed.
Facebook Link Thumbnail Missing? Restore it!
If you’ve followed these tips, your thumbnail should show up – particularly if you’ve set og tags manually, or with a plugin like Yoast.
Still having problems?
If you try to post a link on Facebook and see something like this:
Follow these steps:
- Ensure that you have an image on the page that’s at least 200 x 200 pixels.
- If so, head over to the Facebook Object Debugger. Enter the page URL.
- You may get some techy solutions – but for now, go back to Facebook and try posting your link again.
- Success!
That should do the trick!
How to get a link to a Facebook post on computer or mobile
This is a somewhat different topic, but the wording and search terms are so similar, I wanted to cover it too.
Sometimes you want to point followers or friends to a specific post on Facebook. Each Facebook post does have a unique link that you can share anywhere that accepts hyperlinks!
It’s a great idea to share these to your email list, asking them for comments on your post.
First, be sure that it’s a Public post, or your audience will be limited to the audience specified for the post.
To copy the URL of a Facebook post while on a computer browser, simply right click on the timestamp below the original poster’s name, and Copy Link Address.
Or, when you get a notification about a post, the URL you’re taken to is the URL of the post. You can copy the link in your browser bar.
Now go paste it wherever you like!
To grab the Facebook post link while on mobile:
This seems to keep changing, but here’s what worked in March 2019:
1 | Find the post and tap the Share icon below.
2 | Choose More Options…
3 | Choose Message.
4 | Copy the link out of the message. You don’t need to send it.
That’s it! Now you’ve got a shareable link to a Facebook post.
Facebook link previews: Conclusion
We covered a lot! Scroll back to review as needed:
- How to share a link on your Facebook Page
- Facebook link thumbnail size in the news feed
- How to get a large Facebook link image
- Blog image size to get the best Facebook link preview
- Facebook link ad size options
- Preview your Facebook post with the Facebook share debugger
- Change or remove your Facebook link preview
- How to restore a missing link image
- How to get the link to a Facebook post
For general help with improving your Facebook Page:
If this post has helped you with Facebook Link Thumbnail image sizes, please share!
Martha Giffen says
I always like your information! Not only is the info itself good, but your delivery of “how to” is exceptional! You talk in plain English for the rest of us. Thanks!
Louise Myers says
Thanks Martha, that means a lot coming from a pro like you!
Carla says
I’m glad to know about the Facebook changes – it’s hard to keep on top of them all! Keep up the amazing effort.
Louise Myers says
Thanks Carla.
W S says
how to post any link including youtube’s on facebook with large image thumbnail
please write an article about this.. to make others aware !
Louise Myers says
I’ll be happy to share this info. Article coming.
Holly Higbee-Jansen says
Thank you for this information. I use images daily for Facebook to promote my photography blog and was not aware of this info. I will continue to watch for your posts and share!
Louise Myers says
Thanks so much, Holly!
Tariqul says
You are really a genius about new technology as well as tips and tricks. Please post some article about how can I use facebook for business in 2013. I hope it will be very helpful for us.
Louise Myers says
Thanks for stopping by, Tarquil! I hope you find my Facebook graphics tips helpful. My new ebook will be coming out at the beginning of the new year!
susan says
While I welcome the opportunity to display larger thumbnails, this change has created huge problems for everyone who wants to share content on Facebook. Anything that doesn’t conform to these strict dimensions gets cropped randomly to fit the dimensions of the thumbnails, instead of being scaled in proportion, like it used to be. The portrait oriented images are the worst. Also, Facebook seem to randomly pick images from a page, and the one you want is not always available to display. Have you tried pasting the URL of this post into Facebook? I often do this when I want to share a webpage that has no share buttons. Try it! See what happens? Your images get chosen and cropped randomly and it looks pretty awful. And there’s nothing you can do to change it! It’s soooo frustrating!
Louise Myers says
Yeah, it’s a mess. I just haven’t taken the time yet to figure out how to set the image that FB will pick up. I’ll be posting the how-to’s when I do!
Colin Stevens says
You can specify the image to be used by Facebook if there are several in an article using Open Graph code. This is a really useful article that will help you get better images in Facebook as well as sort out your big posts in Twitter way beyond the character limit.
http://www.quicksprout.com/2013/03/25/social-media-meta-tags-how-to-use-open-graph-and-cards/
Louise Myers says
Thanks so much Colin! Valuable resource.
Reginald says
Hey Louise,
Thanks for reminding. That’s why I noticed! In the past, I usually use a small image and when I start using a bigger one, FB will display a bigger image.
Great article and thanks for sharing!
Louise Myers says
You bet, Reginald! Thanks so much for taking the time to comment.
Charlie@Seattle Trekker says
Thanks for the Facebook tips; it is getting harder and harder to keep up with all the change.
Louise Myers says
I hear ya, Charlie! It’s exhausting just updating the posts, let alone updating my Facebook page 🙂
DOK Simon says
Hi Louise,
Wow nice information, funny enough, i have been using Facebook to promote most of my content but I don’t really have an idea how images appear……
Louise Myers says
Hope this helps!
Alice says
This is a REALLY GREAT tip! Thanks for sharing! Will definitely be putting it to good use.
Louise Myers says
So glad it helped, Alice! Thanks for your comment.
Walter V says
Hi Louise, I’m having issues with the thumbnails still rendering small when I make a post, even though I’ve followed the image size guidelines of at least 600×315 (mine is actually 750×315) . Any tips??
Louise Myers says
Hi Walter, this is what I do if the image isn’t showing up:
Go to https://developers.facebook.com/tools/debug/
Enter your URL and it will tell you if FB sees your images.
Usually this fixes it for me. Often it updates cached images to new ones.
Best of luck, hope this helps!
Sharanyan Sharma says
Awesome! nobody aware of this Facebook thumbnail feature !
Thanks for sharing with us Louise 🙂
Louise Myers says
My pleasure, Sharanyan, glad you found it useful! Thanks for your comment 🙂
Toni says
Its so frustrating how they change the facebook rules and algorithms all the time. Cant seem to keep up. Most of my images seem to be big enough to go to the large image thankfully.
Louise Myers says
I know what you mean, Toni! Good work with the large images. They look great on a blog, and social media loves them.
Mark Frisk says
It’s worth mentioning that Facebook gives you the opportunity to upload an image for link posts. This is very handy if Facebook isn’t picking up a good image from a third-party link, or if the image on your own site isn’t optimal in size and/or dimensions.
This means that you don’t necessarily have to have ginormous images on your blog posts to take advantage of large image previews on Facebook. You can also control which images Facebook picks up through proper use of Facebook’s Open Graph protocol. Those images don’t even have to be visible in the blog post.
Louise Myers says
Great points, thanks Mark!
Prateek Bansal says
Yeah I was searching for a reason from a long time that why my site thumbnails are not opening properly on facebook. Thanks a lot for explaining in details. I am going to take care of it Louise from now.
Louise Myers says
Great to hear Prateek! Thanks for your comment.
Nick says
How would I get a youtube video to show up with a full thumbnail? I’m having trouble figuring it out.
Louise Myers says
Hey Nick,
I don’t post videos so I don’t know. I’ve heard there’s a difference between “sharing” and “embedding” a video on Facebook though.
Hope you find your answer – best of luck!
Paul Strauss says
We’ve been trying to do this for a while. We have custom code that calls the YouTube (or Vimeo) API to retrieve the largest still image, then insert that as our OG:IMAGE. But for some reason, Facebook still often shrinks it down to a thumbnail.
Louise Myers says
See my other reply: if you’re sharing a post with an embedded video, Facebook will override the og:image. Hope they change that!
Marcelo says
Hi Louise,
Thank you so much for writing this great article. With all the social media image sizes, it is good to have an article, source that gives the right direction when creating images for Facebook posts.
I’ll recommend or article to my clients.
Have a great week!
Kind regards,
Marcelo
Louise Myers says
Your welcome, Marcelo, and thank YOU for your kind comment, and recommendations!
Enjoy the rest of your week 🙂
Lynne says
Thanks for the info! Very helpful! Great to know these facts for facebook.
Louise Myers says
You’re welcome Lynne, thanks for your comment!
Paul Strauss says
Anyone found that there seems to be no rhyme or reason to when facebook will show a large image or the thumbnail these days? I’ve got images where the OG:IMAGE is set to a 1920×1080 still, and Facebook still shows the tiny thumbnail image. I’ve tried everything, but no luck.
Any ideas?
Here’s an example post where this happens if I share it on my Facebook page:
http://95octane.com/2014/06/19/laferrari-p1-918-spyder-agera-r/
Louise Myers says
I’m not well versed in video sharing, but this is what I read: If you are sharing content that includes a video such as an embedded YouTube video, Facebook will override the image you included and use the video thumbnail instead – giving you the small thumbnail. When clicked, it will play the video and not direct users off to your site.
I’ll add this to the post too.
Geoff says
I’m uploading a 1200×630 image to my link post and it still gets converted to thumbnail. Any idea why?
Louise Myers says
Geoff, the only thing I can suggest is trying the debugger tool
https://developers.facebook.com/tools/debug/
If Facebook “sees” the image, it should create a large thumbnail
Steve Bates says
Was happy to find your article on posting images to FB! When posting to FB before, I had been just selecting photo/video and uploading the photo, then adding some text and links to it. But the problem with that was that when somebody just clicks on the photo it just goes to the photo viewer and does not go to the link of the post that you want it to go to! If I pasted in a link, it gives you the option to upload a photo (which is great) but I couldn’t figure out why the photo appeared so small! Then I found your post and tried what you said (I did 610×319 photos to be safe) It seemed to work for a while, then I did one the same way and it was small again! Also I found that when viewing FB on an iPad in the iPad app, the photos are all small! So now still searching for how to consistanly have the photos appear large on all devices! Do you have any further suggestions?
Louise Myers says
Steve, I’m so sorry, that’s a mystery to me. Facebook can be so annoying!
If I learn anything I’ll be sure to alert you here.
Selena says
Thank you so much Louise!!! I stumbled across your post after asking Mrs Google for an answer. This issue has been driving me nuts all day and as soon as I read your article I was able to resolve the problem. I am now very keen to read some more of your articles.
Cheers
Selena
Louise Myers says
Wonderful Selena! So happy to hear that. Thanks for your comment!
Elias Sideways says
Well, been experimenting the whole day with this thing. And it seems totally random wether I will get the large preview or not. I am changing all of my images to comply with the rules, and using nothing smaller than 1000px width, but still half of my posts show with with no preview image, and some of them have the large image. I thought it was about the image size (kb) but that wasn’t the case… Any insights here, anyone? I’m slowly wanting to (&*&*(&@
Louise Myers says
Wow, just crazy, huh Elias?
The only thing you could try (if you haven’t yet) is the debug tool. To make sure FB is seeing the large image on a particular page, enter the URL here:
https://developers.facebook.com/tools/debug/
Good luck!
Elias Sideways says
It’s still getting crazier. We uploaded all of the images manually, so it was not about FB fetching the correct image from the site.
AND some of the images that showed small, somehow turned big after a couple of days.
I repeat: We had small image for two days, and then they became big.
Wow…
Louise Myers says
Oh my, that’s crazy! Is this how you see it on your own wall? Wondering if it appeared large in the newsfeed and/or to others viewing your wall.
Facebook is full of Facebugs tho…
Byron says
Louise,
I post to FB once a week to announce the distribution of our newsletter. The past few times I had trouble with the graphic – I use the banner of the newsletter normally. After I paste the url for the newsletter the link info appears in a box but there is no “”upload photo” button. I no longer have the ability to replace the default image selected by the link loader. Any idea why this would be the case? It used to work but suddenly stopped. I can’t find anyone else posting about this problem.
Louise Myers says
Hi Byron,
Unfortunately Facebook is infamous for developing “Facebugs.” I’m sorry I don’t know why this would happen. An off-the-wall suggestion would be to try a different browser, or log in as a different Admin, if your page has another Admin.
Good luck – I hope it resolves on its own!
Bimakuru says
thanks louise, i’ll try with my blog post..
Louise Myers says
Great, best of luck with it!
masood says
Thanks Louise Myers Its great help i will tray this on my webiste
Louise Myers says
Great, Masood!
V says
I want to post videos from my YouTube to my FB and NOT have that little thumbnail. I want a larger frame of the video itself to appear on my page. People overlook the thumbnail of the video.
PLEASE tell me how to do THAT.
I see people with BIG videos on their page all the time and they’re not all mobile uploads either. I just don’t know how to get my youtube vids larger on my FB.
Louise Myers says
I don’t share videos, so I’m not positive, but I believe you have to upload the video (see Photo/Video option in Status box) to have it show at a large size. Just linking to a video or page with a video won’t work. Please let me know if this works!
*Note: There may be copyright issues with uploading a video you don’t own.
Rebecca G says
Thank you for making it so clear! With Facebook’s new algorithm change (showing less posts with links in the caption) this is a lifesaver!
Louise Myers says
Yes, this is the answer to the new algorithm! So glad you found it helpful, Rebecca.
Kirsten Wollschlager says
Hello Louise!!!
Thank you so much for writing this article! I very much appreciate your explanations… Currently if I post a link to my personal profile from my blog, I get the small thumbnail… but if I post the same link from my blog to my business page, I get the larger thumbnail…. I don’t understand why Facebook would treat the links differently depending on where I post. Is there a reason I am only seeing the larger image thumbnails when I post a blog link from my business page as opposed to my personal fb page?
http://kirstenashley.com/blog/monday-moment-54-challenges/
Above is the sample link I’ve used. I’ve tried using others with the same result.
I’d love to get your thoughts on this issue!
Thanks again for all you do! Wishing you a beautiful day!!
Louise Myers says
Hi Kirsten,
I’ve noticed the same thing! I have no idea why, it’s weird. I wondered if it was just because I post links on my personal profile via the “Like” button on my website. I’ll have to try a direct post tomorrow to test.
Louise Myers says
Kirsten, I just posted a link, and while it looked like a small thumbnail on my profile, when I went to the news feed it was large.
Try finding them in the news feed and see if they’re large there! Mine was right at the top.
Scott says
Hi, no matter what i do this will not work. I am trying to link to my website, a small picture, and just the name of my website on the left. I can remove the picture, but not the text without removing everything. All i need is a large picture, and nothing else. This happens to every page on my website. all my pictures are way above the pixel margain.
Hope you can help!!”
Louise Myers says
Hey Scott,
Pretty sure you won’t be able to do that. Facebook has said they like the link post exactly because it lets people know just where they’re going and what they’ll see when they click. So they don’t want you to take the description out.
Now if you want to post a photo with a clickable link, see this article: https://louisem.com/2506/how-to-post-link-on-facebook
But Facebook has said those will get less priority in the news feed.
Michele says
Okay, I am bit confused on how to do this? Please help.
Louise Myers says
Hi Michele,
Could you let me know where you’re having a problem, and I’ll try to help.
Frédéric Sidler says
Trying to share Youtube videos too. I think Vimeo and Facebook video get large thumbnail. I think Youtube video are not getting large thumbnail because it is Facebook’s choice.
They are coming with new video features. They want people to use their site instead of Youtube.
I’m sure Facebook will come with ad in video 😉
Louise Myers says
I’ve suspected the same thing, Frédéric. Hey, we all know who owns YouTube… 😉
Darren says
Its based on the aspect ration of the og:image. The youtube video og:image is typically more rectangular while vimeo is more square.
Louise Myers says
Thanks Darren!
Ging Loong says
I had changed the picture to the largest one but still cant get a larger thumbnail…….Can you please help me ???
Louise Myers says
I used the Facebook Debugger and found that this line in your code in messing it up:
meta property=”fb:app_id” content=”Ging Loong”
I’m not a techie so I don’t know how it got there, or how to remove it.
Here’s the debugger if you want to look at it or show your tech person:
https://developers.facebook.com/tools/debug/og/object/
Hope you get it sorted!
Ging Loong says
Thanks for you reply. Thank you so much.
Filip says
Hi Louise,
Amazing Article here, really helped me a lot. But I have a question about sharing youtube videos to a facebook page, and setting up a larger thumbnails … as sometimes ,for some videos, are large but for most are small thumbs with text on the right side. How to fix this?
Thanks!
Louise Myers says
Hi Filip,
My understanding is that if you upload a video (either your own or one you have rights to) you get the large preview. Linking to a video gives you a small preview. I don’t believe there’s any way to override the small preview. Facebook seems to not favor videos.
António Salvador says
I really like your article.
Unfortunately, as some other comments have pointed out already, it seems to, at this time, to exist no relation between the image size and the fact that facebook decides to create the thumbnail on wide-top, or, on the side.
Or is there’s something I’m not getting?
I have an image that goes like this:
1906 × 1104
Debug tools acuses nothing wrong.
Any clue?
Louise Myers says
Hi Antonio,
I really don’t know. I haven’t had a single one of my posts get a small thumbnail for months. Occasionally it shows a small preview before I actually post it, but it always posts with the large preview.
If you’ve confirmed that they’re showing in the news feed with the small preview, a workaround would be to upload your large image when posting your link, as shown in the last image in the article.
Alejo says
Hi Louise. Thanx for sharing all this info for us to be more informed on how to customize our posts.
Maybe you could help me with something:
I’m trying to post a VIMEO link of a video on FB, but i don’t want that the post on FB when clicked, redirects to the vimeo Link. I want it to be playable on FB… Seems that possibility isn’t available now.
How can i do? Because some post allow the play on FB and some others just allow the IMAGE and when clicked it redirects to a new page.
Thanx for your help.
Greetings
Alejo
Louise Myers says
Hi Alejo!
To play ON Facebook, instead of redirecting, you need to upload the video to Facebook. So it would need to be your own video.
Nice to meet you!
Louise
CM says
Nice article! It’s a new concept for me. Thanks alot for explaining in brief. I hope that it gonna help me alot in future!
Thanks again for posting!
Louise Myers says
Best of luck with it!
Budy K says
finally got the right explanation ….
Louise Myers says
Glad you found it useful!
Zahid says
Very helpful information you have shared. It will be helpful for better marketing and good exposure to everyone. Thanks.
Louise Myers says
You’re welcome, Zahid, thanks for taking the time to comment!
Elleanor says
Hello, I can not load a picture on Facebook bigger than the thumbnail. I made it bigger and saved in my computer, but when I click the camera on Facebook to upload it, it always loads in the small box. The only way I can get large photos is when they load from the Jet pack on our WordPress site. Can you please help me? Thank you!
Louise Myers says
Hi Elleanor,
I have found that it sometimes loads in the small box, but still posts as a large image. If this isn’t the case for you, and the image is at least 600 x 315 pixels, I don’t know what to tell you, other than stick with Jet Pack or another Open Graph tool.
pat says
I followed your suggestions for the larger thumbs in my links and uploaded 1200 wide x 600 tall minimum and the thumbs still are small… you can visit site and see… now when they didn’t get bigger, I took down the test… but they did not increase in viewing size… thanks for any help…
Louise Myers says
Hi Pat,
When I ran one of your links thru the FB debug tool mentioned in my article, I got a preview with a large image. Not sure why your FB post shows a small one.
As far as the web pages that have videos, any images will be ignored. You’ll just get a small preview of the video that does NOT link to your site. Can’t do anything about that, it’s just the way Facebook does it.
Whenever you have a problem on a non-video page, try the debug tool. It really seems to work!
DC says
It’s possible to share a custom image from a facebook profile? just like we can do on fan pages?
Louise Myers says
You bet, there’s a “Share” link with each Facebook post. I see it on non-public posts even when I can’t Like or Comment.
DC says
When I share a link from my fan page, Im able to upload a custom thumbnail image, that option is not available when I try to share a link from my personal profile.
Is there any chance to share a custom thumbnail for a link from a personal profile?
Louise Myers says
Not that I’m aware of. This seems to be a perk for business pages. On a personal profile, you could upload a photo and put a link in the text.
Glenn says
This was a great tip – Thanks! also to provide more color I did this in the WordPress admin panel , navigated to SEO->Social–>Facebook tab. I then ticked the checkbox for open graph protocol. I also connected via the facebook admin button.
I went back to my website ,Yonderist, refreshed and re-logged into facebook. Then I was able to share larger images.
Louise Myers says
So cool, Glenn! I looked at another site I have on WordPress. That’s the Yoast Plug-in, right?
Great tip!
Hendrix says
Thanks for the info.
Now you can use on Facebook any image with 1.91:1 aspect ratio.
[Ex: 1200×630 pixels, 800×420 pixels, 600×315 pixels]
Louise Myers says
Yes you can!
As far as using your service, it’s easier to just upload the image right in Facebook when posting the link. No need for people to use the sharecron redirect.
JB says
600 x 315 pixels isn’t cropping right. It is in the preview, but when i finaly post it it isn’t anymore. What is the right size?
Louise Myers says
Hey JB,
That’s the size spec from Facebook. I haven’t had any cropping occur. Can you describe how it’s cropping?
Yo Lun Yen says
600 x 315 doesn’t work for me. I tried 880×400 and it works.
Louise Myers says
Interesting! I’ve never had a problem with it. It’s from Facebook’s own recommendations.
The image on your FB post must be cropped on the sides, as it doesn’t show at the proportions you specified, but rather at 764 x 400.
آپلود عکس says
Hi Louise, Excellent article! We are linking to this great article on our website.
Thanks a lot
Louise Myers says
Glad you enjoyed it!
John Muse says
Slightly different question, but one you might be able to answer. Facebook used to allow you to decide whether to share an image or not when sharing a url. And you could choose the best image. Now you can’t opt out, at least I don’t think so. Is there a way to not include an image when sharing? Thanks. -j
Louise Myers says
Hi John,
If sharing a link ON your FB page (as opposed to using a sharing button on a web page), you can.
Just hover the image that’s pulled up and click on the x in the upper right corner to delete the image.
Ben Gunsberger says
Hi Louise,
I’m also having the problem where I get full-size images on the web and on iPhone, but small square thumbnails on iPad. Did you ever find out anything more on this?
Thanks
Louise Myers says
Hi Ben,
I don’t think there’s anything we can do to resolve this. In the FB app on my iPad, the images are small on my page wall (except for one!) and large on my profile wall. In Safari, they’re all large.
I do believe they’re large in the news feed, which to me is most important.
I wish there was an easy fix, but I don’t think there is for this.
Ashish says
It is so frustrating when you post your YouTube video on Facebook and they just don’t appear the way you want. I have done so much of research on this and have wasted days and hours in figuring out the root cause of it.
Louise Myers says
Hello Ashish,
It’s probably not the best idea to come onto someone else’s site and drop your link into 7 comments. It’s a great way to get marked as a spammer.
I’ve already blogged about how to get large YouTube links here.
Miss says
But tool for rebuild preview link fb?
P.S. No Facebook linter
Louise Myers says
I think you’re looking for the Facebook debug tool? –> https://developers.facebook.com/tools/debug
Jobayer says
how to work it?
Louise Myers says
Let me know where you’re having a problem and I’ll try to help.
catherine says
It did work for me. It crops the image
Louise Myers says
Thanks Catherine!
Nemanja says
Dear, how can you do that? How can i put the large image when share some yt video on facebook? Thank you.
Frances Clements Fawcett says
Hi Louise!
I discovered your site a week+ago as I’m refreshing my memory on the nuances of FB posting, having taken a (ahem!) 19 month sabbatical on both my personal and FB page!
I appreciate all of the clear and helpful information you share!
Thanks and I shall be sure to point more folks here!
In Delight! In Gratitude!
Frances
Moxie Powered Delight Detective
Louise Myers says
I’m so glad to hear you’re finding useful tips here, Frances! Thanks for your kind comment.
Fadi says
Thanks for sharing this
Karol says
Hi!!! i just found your website! and i’m sure i can learn a lot from these tricks!!!
Although the article is what i came looking for, it did not work for me. The image I used was 1000px wide, and i had even used one the same size that did show horizontal on another post. You think maybe the link title also influences how the image is displayed?
Louise Myers says
First thing to check would be if you’ve specified the OG image in the blog post. Then, run the URL through the debugger and see what it says.
Lastly, blame Facebugs! They do happen 😉
JP says
Thank you, the debugger helped!
Justine says
Thanks so much. Fabulous timing. It’s been so troublesome trying to make sense of the FB nuances and your blog made it easy to fix. Good on you. Justine
Louise Myers says
Great! So glad to hear it helped, Justine.
Wayne says
This didn’t work for me? The image I am using is 1201X936. Let me know if I am doing anything wrong.
Louise Myers says
Not sure but I suggest you try the FB debugger.
Nell says
Hi, I’ve recently try to create a custom thumbnail on my youtube channel and I wanted to get the big image on facebook. I’ve followed a couple of tutorial like this one :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SFUU2HAPYK0
Saying I had to make my thumbnail 1200 x 628. It doesn’t seems to work on facebook. I still get a small image with the text to the right in stead of under. Any idea why ?!
Thanks!
Louise Myers says
I believe he’s talking about sharing a video from your blog post, not directly from YouTube. Rather misleading.
You need a third-party app for videos. Check this blog post. Readers have left other options in comments.
Hassan says
how to post a link on facebook comment with large image thumbnail
i ask large image in comments . not on page post
Louise Myers says
Don’t know of any way to change the photo size in comments.
Rocio says
Thanks for the tip! I have a question: my featured images are 656×300 and display in a big format, though they aren’t as sharp and clear as shown on the website (it doesn’t show pixelated or stretch, just not so sharp the letters, for instance) . As FB would take the resolution out of it. Any recommendation?
Louise Myers says
This is a tough one with website links. Your best bet is to upload a high-resolution (1200 pixels wide) PNG image directly to Facebook. That would suffer less compression. But you don’t want images that large on your web page as they would slow it down.
Tiana says
Hi There!
I found your pages and I’ve bookmarked them all as I find them extremely easy to read and informative!
I am having issues still getting a large link image.
I have debugged my link and resized my photo to 484×252 pixels, 600×315 pixels, AND 1200×630 pixels, NONE of which produce a large image link.
What am I doing wrong? What do you suggest?
Sarah Josey says
Hello!
Thank you for this post is was very very helpful!
I have a question for you about photo sizes to use when having MailChimp post to Facebook for you when you send out an email….it always crops my ‘social post’ images funny for Facebook and I’d love to know what the optimal image dimensions are getting them to show best when using this feature in MailChimp.
Thank you again!!
Sarah
Louise Myers says
Hi Sarah,
I don’t know anything bout MailChimp, and I don’t even use that feature in AWeber. Do you get good engagement with those posts?
For an answer to your question, though, I would try MailChimp support. Best!
Lenore Spitznagel says
It didn’t work for me. I’m not a blogger. I’m trying to post our logo or a graphic with a link to a site that is selling our Trivia Night. Please help, if you can.
Thanks
Louise Myers says
Type in your text and link. If no image is pulled in, use the + sign below the link box to add your image.
If it doesn’t fit the proportions of 600×315, it will be cropped. If it doesn’t meet the minimum size, you’ll get a tiny thumbnail.
Steve says
I think it depends on other factors. I shared a link on my page, and a buddy shared the same link on his. He got the large preview. I got the little one. He has tons of fb friends and a lot of interaction. I have limited. I think that’s also a factor. When I look at facebook debugger, it also shows the small image.
Large (might not be viewable to all…)
facebook.com/matt.barnick/posts/10155476458166808
Small
facebook.com/stephenegibson/posts/10154854560517048
Same youtube link.
youtube.com/watch?v=12sR4uM6w5Q
Louise Myers says
That’s really interesting! Facebook is so fickle. Thanks for letting us know.
Rebecca says
Hi Louise, thank you for this helpful post!
I’m trying to post a link to a third-party article and it’s not including our product image within the selectable options (this is a list of “best new products” and we’re number 8. It’s only pulling the first few images). I plugged the URL into the debugger link you shared, and it is showing our product photo as an OG image. However, it’s still not an option when publishing to our brand page. Since we do not manage this website, I cannot make any changes to the URL itself.
When I try uploading a new image, even at 1200×630 pixels, it makes it a tiny cropped thumbnail on the left-hand side of the publishing link. Any ideas??
Many thanks!
Louise Myers says
I’ve found that it shows as a small image before publishing, but becomes a full size image on the page.
Katherine Dupre says
Hi Louise!
This blog post was fantastic! I blog on WordPress and was able to create large images and designate them for the FB share. I also had to use the Debugger tool, but now most of my posts show the large preview image on FB. Here’s my problem! Facebook is still showing the small, square, thumbnail on mobile. For example, my most recent post includes a designated FB image that is 1030 x 540. On Desktop, it shows the large preview, but on mobile is shows the ugly square. Any idea on why this would be happening? Thanks in advance for any help!! 🙂
Louise Myers says
Hi Katherine,
Sorry, I don’t use FB enough any more to have a clue. They don’t make it easy to figure things out, that’s for sure.
Aadesh says
Hey Louise,
I found your post really helpful.I have a motivational blog named “Think Inside-Out”. I was having this problem of not netting proper thumbnail on FB. This post helped me a lot. Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge.
-Aadesh
Louise Myers says
Glad it helped, Aadesh!
Marko says
Hello Louise,
I’ve tried so many different advises on getting a full sized thumbnail when posting a link on facebook and uploading a custom image that I’m going crazy. It looks like there are no rules at all, sometimes it works, most of the time not. I tried to upload 1200 x 630, and some other sizes, saved in different qualities, but nothing works this time. Any thoughts?
Louise Myers says
Oh no! I’m sorry to hear that, Marko.
Once in a while I need to pull in an image for a client’s posts, and I just use the ones from their blog, which are 800 x 533. I haven’t had problems, but I can say that Facebook isn’t known for its reliability! Sorry.
Conrad says
600 x 315 doesn’t work for me. On mobile, it still gets cropped into a little thumbnail. Mind updating your article with the actual minimum dimensions?
Louise Myers says
I just checked, and this is still what Facebook recommends as the minimum image size (source).
If it doesn’t work for you, go with 1200 x 630.
Easy peasy.
Mehndi Designs says
Thank you so much i really need this information i have been google for find this kind of information but i saw your site on google and solved my problem thank you so much again
Dr.S.Mandal says
Hello Louise,
thank you very much for your post . Previously I struggling with the matter , how to post in facebook with larger , more appealing pictures . But now with the help of your advice , I can do it very easily . I am very much happy , now . In one word , I can describe your post is GORGEOUS . Just keep it up , so that many people can be benefited from it . My heartily greetings for you and thank you again . Have a nice day .
Louise Myers says
So wonderful to hear it helped 🙂
Karie Bair says
I’m so glad I found this site! I was able to create a clickable image on Facebook posts to send people to my website. It looked good on my laptop, but it was reduced to a little thumbnail with a description to the right on my phone. I tried sorting through the updates and comments, but I’m not sure what size I should use. I was creating Facebook post graphics using Canva’s “Facebook Post” template, but that must be too large because it cut off parts of my graphic when I made it clickable. Can you tell me what size I should use to have a large, but not cutoff, image on both desktop and mobile? Thanks so much!
Louise Myers says
Sorry Karie, I haven’t figured that out. I’mm not sure why FB started doing the little links on mobile 🙁
Olivia Perez says
Hi Louise,
Do you also know how to make the thumbnails smaller?
Whenever I share a post on Facebook, the thumbnails are so big for my liking. So I want it to be like the tiny postage-stamp size in the link preview.
I have tried sharing it in different ways and using different sized photos to no avail.
Thank you in advance for your help. (sorry my previous question was confusing)
-Olivia
Louise Myers says
Hi Olivia,
I honestly don’t think we have much control over how our posts look on Facebook. I haven’t tried to make a small thumbnail, but it sounds like you have, without success.
It’s Facebook – it’s frustrating. 😉
Steve Lloyd says
Hi Louise, I was wondering if you can help me as you are the Fb guru. When I post a link to my website on my Business FB page using Business Manager then try to replace the image, the TXT moves from the bottom to the right hand side and the image gets cropped into a Portrait. I have tried both recomended image sizes of 470×246 and 1200×628. I have also googled the heck out of it and cant seem to find a solution. Just wondering if you have any ideas I could try. Here is an image of the undesired result.
Louise Myers says
Hi Steve,
Have you tried to see if it actually posts that way? I’ve noticed this too, but it always posts like a normal, landscape image for me.
David says
Facebook debugger is telling my my share image is larger than 8MB, when in actuality it is only 23K. It is defaulting to another undesired image on my site. Is there any interactive way, or FB phone number to call to get a real answer as to why this is happening, other than trying to guess what the problem is through trial and error? FB is pathetic.
Louise Myers says
There’s no phone support unless you’re a big advertiser. Depending on your website platform, you can look for a plugin that allows you to specify the FB image to be shared, or learn how to specify that with code.
Dev says
Amazing content
Ari says
I have a problem, because 2 of my 3 pages suddenly cannot post large thumbnail meanwhile I didn’t do any change on it and in my another page the feature adding extra image is still working.
Could you please help to give me the solution?
Thanks in advance.
Louise Myers says
I would if I knew! Try to contact FB help.
Ahmed says
If you want to make large facebook or twitter thumbnail , When clicked on the user direct to your site.
From here : linkimage2url.com/ar/engpromopage.html .
Phil Marsosudiro says
Thanks for the July update! You saved me a lot of time I would have wasted trying to figure out how to do something that can’t actually be done 🙂
Facebook — so useful, so fickle!
Kirill says
Many thanks. The material was very useful to me.
Asad says
When I post a link on FB it shows me 2 thumbnails. I want to remove the post thumbnail and keep the new. Please tell me how can I fix it. Thanks
Bhuvnesh Gupta says
Hi, I want to show a preview on my own website before feed is published to facebook. I see that facebook is cropping image in 476*248px and showing on page timeline but when I am resizing image in same dimensions both the images look different.
My image is complete with new dimensions while Facebook’s image is not complete if original image size is not in ration e.g 1000*1000px.
please help me
Louise Myers says
Sorry, I don’t know.
Ran Magal says
Hi and thanks for that post,
Facebook fetches a preview images, then I’m adding a picture and then, when i’m trying to de-select the preview it wouldn’t let me.
I’ve tried switching between them (so that my image would be “1” and the preview “2”) but even after that, i can only deselect my image and not the preview.
Any suggestions?
Somtoo says
Thanks for this. I was able to change my song artwork previews to full size on FB using 1200 x 630 pixels for my music download website. 600 x 315 doesn’t seem to work (any longer).
Thanks again.
Louise Myers says
Interesting! This still seems to work for me. But great to know if others have problems.
Jack Sampson says
Thanks for the detailed writeup, Louise! It’s such a shame that Facebook decided to disable customizing link previews. Have you seen sharekit.io, which brings back the ability to edit link previews? I’m using it for the pages that I manage and so far it’s working well.
Louise Myers says
Thanks for mentioning it, Jack.
priya says
Thanks for this. I was able to change my song artwork previews to full size on FB using 1200 x 630 pixels for my music download website. 600 x 315 doesn’t seem to work (any longer).
Louise Myers says
Interesting, mine still work.
Denise Weston says
Oh, my goodness. I have been trying for 3 days to figure out how to make the thumbnail show up properly.
Your blog answered my question, and I am now so HAPPY!!!!!!!
Louise Myers says
Great!!
anonymous says
When I post a link on FB it shows me 2 thumbnails. I want to remove the post thumbnail and keep the new…. how to fix it?
Louise Myers says
X it out.
BTW for future reference I don’t allow use of a keyword instead of a real name. I remove the keywords as well as the URL on comments like this (or mark them as spam).
Sophie says
Hello! I tried all the sizes in this post but none of them worked. I couldn’t make a big image, just the “little, totally square” one. What could be the problem? Thank you! 🙂
Louise Myers says
There’s really one size, 1200 x 630. If that doesn’t work, try the debugger.
Sophie says
1200×630 worked just fine. The problem was that on the preview it didn’t show that the image will be bigger. Thank you!