Check and refresh the OG image cache on social platforms

After you deploy OG (Open Graph) tags for a website, social platforms usually keep serving the old cached preview. This guide shows how to force each platform to re-scrape the page so the new OG image appears, with a standard meta tag checklist and the checks to run when the image still does not show.

Throughout, https://example.com/ is your website URL and og-image.png is your OG image file - replace them with your real values.

Quick reference

The general flow:

1. Paste the website URL into each platform's tool.
2. Click Scrape / Debug / Inspect.
3. Check that the preview image is now correct.

1. Facebook / Messenger

Facebook caches OG data aggressively. Use the Sharing Debugger to force a re-fetch.

1. Open the Facebook Sharing Debugger.
2. Paste the URL to check, for example https://example.com/.
3. Click Debug.
4. Look at the og:image row - if it still shows the old image or is empty:
   • Click Scrape Again.
   • Click it a second time to be safe (Facebook sometimes needs 2 scrapes to update).
5. When the scrape finishes, check Link Preview at the bottom of the page to see the new image.

2. Twitter / X

X removed the preview from the Card Validator, so the most accurate check today is the post composer itself:

1. Open x.com (or the X app) and start a new post.
2. Paste the URL to check into the composer.
3. Wait a few seconds - the card preview appears right below if the page has the required meta tags.
4. Check the image in the card, then close the composer. You do not need to post.

If the card still shows the old image:

• Submit the URL on the Card Validator page to ask X to re-crawl it. The page no longer shows a preview; it only triggers a re-crawl and shows the log.
• Or append a query string when you share the URL (for example ?v=2) so X treats it as a new URL, the same trick used for Zalo in section 4.

<meta name="twitter:card" content="summary_large_image" />
<meta name="twitter:image" content="https://example.com/og-image.png" />

3. Telegram

Telegram caches previews heavily, but it has a bot dedicated to clearing that cache.

1. Open Telegram and find the bot @webpagebot.
2. Send the bot the URL you want refreshed (example below).
3. The bot re-fetches the HTML, clears the cache and replies with the new preview.
4. Send the link again in any chat - the preview now shows the new image.

URL to send to the bot:

https://example.com/

4. Zalo

Zalo has no public OG debug tool, and its cache is very sticky. What you can do:

• Wait it out: Zalo usually refreshes its cache after 24-48 hours.
• Bust the cache: add a query string to the URL when you send it (example below). Zalo treats it as a new URL and fetches the preview again.
• Each time you need a refresh, bump the version: ?v=3, ?v=4...

URL with a query string:

https://example.com/?v=2

5. LinkedIn

1. Open the LinkedIn Post Inspector.
2. Paste the URL to check.
3. Click Inspect.
4. Check that the preview shows the right OG image.
5. If it needs a refresh, click Inspect once more.

When the OG image still does not show after re-scraping

Work through these three checks in order.

Check the image format

Some older platforms do not support .webp. If you hit problems, convert to .png or .jpg:

# Convert webp to png (requires the webp tools package, which provides dwebp)
dwebp og-image.webp -o og-image.png

# Or use ffmpeg
ffmpeg -i og-image.webp og-image.png

Then update the tag in your HTML:

<meta property="og:image" content="https://example.com/og-image.png" />

Check the image size

Facebook recommends an OG image of at least 1200x630 pixels.

Check that the image URL is reachable

Paste the image URL straight into a browser and make sure it loads (no 404, not blocked by auth).

Standard OG tags checklist

<!-- Basic OG tags -->
<meta property="og:title" content="Page title" />
<meta property="og:description" content="Short description of the page" />
<meta property="og:image" content="https://example.com/og-image.png" />
<meta property="og:url" content="https://example.com/" />
<meta property="og:type" content="website" />

<!-- Twitter Card -->
<meta name="twitter:card" content="summary_large_image" />
<meta name="twitter:title" content="Page title" />
<meta name="twitter:description" content="Short description of the page" />
<meta name="twitter:image" content="https://example.com/og-image.png" />

Image format priority

Ordered by compatibility, best first:

1. PNG - the most compatible across every platform.
2. JPG/JPEG - well supported, smaller files.
3. WebP - supported on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn (2024+), but some older platforms may not display it.

Troubleshooting