The share image is too heavy

Why it matters

A scraper downloads your share image before it can show a preview, and gives up on large files. LinkedIn's limit is 5 MB (X published the same), Facebook's is 8 MB, and WhatsApp says the image "should be under 600KB in size": over that, a link pasted into a chat often appears with no picture. Heavy images also make the first share of a page slow, because the preview waits for the download.

Sources: LinkedIn: make your website shareable; Facebook: images in link shares; WhatsApp link previews.

How to fix it

A 1200×630 share image rarely needs more than 300 KB. Export photographs as JPEG at about 80% quality, and flat graphics as PNG run through a compressor such as Squoosh or TinyPNG. Keep the same file name, or update the tag:

<meta property="og:image" content="https://www.example.com/share.jpg" />

Examples

These are the rule's own test pages, and what it says about each. They are run on every change to the rule book.

They differ only in what the server answered:

200 OK · image/png · 6.2 MB · 1200×630

WarningThe share image is 6.2 MB. LinkedIn and X refuse images over 5.0 MB, so their previews have no picture.

fail-6mb

200 OK · image/jpeg · 900 KB · 1200×630

NoticeThe share image is 900 KB. WhatsApp asks for under 600 KB, and may show the link without its picture.

fail-900kb

200 OK · image/png · 120 KB · 1200×630

PassedThe share image is 120 KB, light enough for every network.

pass-120kb