LinkedIn Image Size for Link Previews (2026)

What LinkedIn uses to render your preview

LinkedIn builds link previews from Open Graph tags in your HTML: og:title, og:description, and og:image. When the bot fetches your page, it caches the result. That cache is why you can deploy a fix and still see the old preview.

The key point: LinkedIn is not looking at what your React app renders after hydration. It mostly cares about the initial HTML response it can fetch quickly. If your OG tags are only added client-side, LinkedIn may treat your page like it has no metadata.

Where LinkedIn previews appear (and why it matters)

LinkedIn previews show up in multiple contexts: feed posts, comments, DMs, and sometimes in link-rich modules. Each context has slightly different UI constraints. You cannot perfectly optimize for every surface, so the goal is to choose a size that is stable and design for a safe area.

• Feed: fast scroll, high compression, need big readable headline
• Messages: smaller container, truncation is more common
• Comments: reduced emphasis, image can appear smaller

Recommended LinkedIn link preview image size

The safest default is 1200x630. Some guides recommend 1200x627 for a precise 1.91:1 ratio. In real usage, 1200x630 works extremely well and keeps you consistent across Twitter/X, Facebook, Slack, and Discord. Consistency matters more than chasing a 3px difference.

Meta tags (copy-paste)

LinkedIn is Open Graph first. If your OG tags are correct, LinkedIn usually behaves.

<meta property="og:type" content="website" />
<meta property="og:url" content="https://example.com/page" />
<meta property="og:title" content="Your title" />
<meta property="og:description" content="Your description" />
<meta property="og:image" content="https://example.com/og.png" />
<meta property="og:image:width" content="1200" />
<meta property="og:image:height" content="630" />

If you want the full set (including Twitter tags), use Meta Tag Generator.

Absolute URLs, og:url, and canonical traps

LinkedIn scrapers behave best when you keep your URLs consistent. Two specific rules prevent a lot of pain:

• Use an absolute HTTPS URL for og:image (never a relative path).
• Make sure og:url matches your canonical URL (and does not bounce through redirect chains).

If you have multiple URLs for the same content (for example, with UTM parameters), keep a consistent canonical and use og:url to consolidate preview metadata.

LinkedIn caching: how to force refresh

The most common LinkedIn complaint is: "I updated og:image but LinkedIn still shows the old one." That is caching. The fix is to use LinkedIn Post Inspector to request a new scrape.

When debugging, do not guess. Validate your URL first:

1. Use OG Validator to confirm your tags are present on the live page.
2. Confirm the image URL returns 200 and is reachable without authentication.
3. Re-scrape with Post Inspector if the preview is stale.

Using LinkedIn Post Inspector (what to check)

Post Inspector is useful because it shows you what LinkedIn fetched, not what you think you shipped. When you re-scrape, look for three things:

• The resolved canonical URL (make sure it matches your intended page).
• The detected og:image URL (make sure it is absolute and correct).
• Whether LinkedIn reports an error fetching the image (timeouts and blocks happen).

If the Inspector is showing the wrong image, it is often because the page output has multiple og:imagetags. Clean that up first.

Duplicate tags and multiple images

Real sites often have layered templates: a base layout that sets default OG tags, then a page that tries to override them. The result can be duplicate tags. Different scrapers handle duplicates differently. LinkedIn may pick the first image it sees, not the one you intended.

Fix: ensure each page outputs one canonical set of tags, and that overrides replace defaults instead of adding new tags on top.

Debug flow (in order)

If you need to fix a broken LinkedIn preview quickly, follow this order:

1. Validate the live URL and confirm OG tags exist in the initial HTML.
2. Confirm og:image is an absolute HTTPS URL and loads without authentication.
3. Confirm the image returns an image content-type (PNG/JPG), not HTML.
4. Check for duplicate og:image tags (layouts and plugins often add extras).
5. Re-scrape via Post Inspector to refresh LinkedIn cache.

If you have many pages, do not debug one-by-one. Run a bulk check with Site Audit and fix the systematic issues first.

Version your images to beat cache confusion

If you update an OG image but keep the exact same URL, caches (platform and CDN) can keep serving old bytes. A pragmatic approach is to version your OG image URLs when you make meaningful visual changes. You can do this with a versioned filename or a query string. It is boring, but it works.

Design tips for LinkedIn specifically

LinkedIn users scroll fast, but they also read more than on Twitter/X. You can use slightly more text on the image, but it still needs to be readable on mobile. Treat the image like a billboard: short headline, strong contrast, and one clear brand element.

• Use one clear headline (6-10 words).
• Do not rely on tiny subtext. It will blur after compression.
• Keep logos away from corners to avoid clipping.
• Prefer flat colors or soft gradients behind text.

One LinkedIn-specific tip: professional audiences respond to clarity. If you are tempted to cram in multiple value props, resist. One clear promise beats five tiny bullet points that nobody can read.

Also pay attention to the title and description tags, not just the image. LinkedIn often surfaces the title more prominently than other platforms. Keep the title concrete, avoid jargon, and make sure the first 8-12 words carry the meaning (because truncation happens).

• Title: write for humans, not keywords. Clarity wins.
• Description: one sentence that explains the value. Avoid filler.
• Brand: small, consistent, and not in the corner.

Link preview image vs "uploaded image" in a post

A confusing point for many teams: LinkedIn has two different things people call "preview images":

• Link preview image: generated from og:image when you paste a URL.
• Uploaded post image: the image you attach manually to a post (different rules).

This guide is about the link preview. If you upload an image manually, LinkedIn uses different sizing and compression logic. Do not try to optimize your OG image for the uploaded-image workflow.

When LinkedIn shows no image at all

If LinkedIn refuses to show an image, it is rarely because your design is bad. It is almost always a fetch problem: missing tags, blocked bots, or an image URL that returns HTML instead of an actual image.

If you are stuck, run the checklist in OG image not showing and validate the live URL with OG Validator.