Skip to content

Open Graph

Facebook showing the wrong image or share text

By Hannah Voss, Editor · Reviewed September 2026 · 3 min read

Quick answer

Facebook shows the wrong image or text when your page has missing or duplicate Open Graph tags, the image is too small or unreachable, or Facebook has cached an older version. Check the page source for one clean set of og tags, make the image at least 600 pixels wide and publicly reachable, then use the Sharing Debugger's Scrape Again button to refresh the cache.

On this page
  1. Fix it in this order
  2. Wrong text, right image
  3. Posts shared before the fix
  4. Other networks
  5. Questions

Fix it in this order

  1. Look at the source

    Open the post, view source, and search for og:image and og:title. Two different values mean two plugins are writing tags. Keep one.

  2. Check the image itself

    Open the og:image address in a private window. It must load without login, over https, and not be a lazy-load placeholder or a tiny thumbnail.

  3. Check the size

    Use 1200 by 630 pixels. Images below about 600 pixels wide get a small side thumbnail; below 200 by 200 they may be ignored.

  4. Check access

    Security plugins, firewalls and hotlink protection sometimes block Facebook's crawler. Its user agent contains facebookexternalhit; make sure it receives your page and image.

  5. Scrape again

    Paste the address into the Sharing Debugger and press Scrape Again. Facebook caches previews for a long time and will not notice your fix otherwise.

  6. Purge your own cache

    If your page cache still serves old tags, Facebook scrapes the old version. Purge, then scrape again.

Causes of the wrong preview, most to least common01Duplicate og tagsmost common02Image too small or placeholdervery common03Old preview cached by Facebookafter any edit04Crawler blockedsecurity settings05Relative image URLmust be absolute
Most wrong previews are the first two causes.

Wrong text, right image

If the title or description is wrong, the same duplicate-tag problem is likely, or the post has a social title set in your SEO plugin that you forgot. When no og:description exists, Facebook may take text from the page itself, often the first paragraph or a cookie notice.

Posts shared before the fix

Scraping again updates future shares and usually refreshes the card on existing posts over time. Posts that were shared long ago may keep their original image. You cannot change a card another person already posted, only what the network fetches next.

Other networks

LinkedIn has its own cache and its own tool, the Post Inspector. X reads twitter card tags first and falls back to Open Graph. After fixing tags, refresh each network separately.

Questions

How do I make Facebook update the image?

Fix the og:image tag, purge your page cache, then use Scrape Again in the Sharing Debugger.

Why does Facebook pick a random image from my page?

The page has no usable og:image, so Facebook guesses. Add one image tag of at least 1200 by 630.

Why does the debugger show a different image to my page source?

It is showing Facebook's cached copy. Press Scrape Again; if it still differs, your page cache served an older version.

Share this guide

XLinkedInFacebookEmail

Hannah Voss, Editor. Checks every guide against a working WordPress install and the networks' current documentation. Last reviewed September 2026.

About the editor and our methods

  1. Adding Open Graph tags in WordPressAdd Open Graph tags to WordPress with an SEO plugin or theme code: the four required tags, image tags, per-post overrides, and how to avoid duplicate tags.3 min read
  2. Open Graph image size: 1200 by 630 and the safe zoneThe right Open Graph image size is 1200 by 630 pixels at a 1.91:1 ratio. Minimums, file limits, formats, and a centre safe zone for square crops.3 min read
  3. How to create a Facebook app IDCreate a Facebook app ID for share counts, the fb:app_id tag and sharing plugins: the dashboard steps, the settings that matter, and vanishing like buttons.3 min read