My link preview shows an old image: what to check

Start with a reproducible comparison

You publish an event page and replace its main picture, but sharing the link still displays the previous poster. Before deleting files or inventing new addresses, save the exact URL, a screenshot of the card and the time of your test. Record which application and which conversation or post shows the problem. The consulted questions illustrate that changing a featured image, or seeing a correct result in a diagnostic tool, does not necessarily match what the audience sees. Separate three things: the page opened by the link, the metadata published by that page, and the card generated by the sharing service. Every comparison must refer to the same resource.

Check the public address first

Open the URL in WikiURL's checker only when it is public and contains no secrets or personal information. Record the returned HTTP response and final address. If it leads to another page, resolve that discrepancy before investigating the poster. A200 response does not establish that the card is correct: the checker does not reproduce Facebook's preview or every application's rendering. Also open the destination in a browser without relying on your administrative session and verify the intended content. For a private resource, use authorized means of checking it and avoid sending it to external tools. Do not make a private page public merely to obtain a thumbnail.

Review the published output, not just the editor

MDN and web.dev explain that metadata can supply information to social platforms. Open Graph defines properties including og:title, og:type, og:url and og:image. The last points to an image file; it does not automatically change when you replace a visible picture in the body. Ask the website maintainer to inspect the HTML delivered for the exact URL and compare the values with the desired card. The sample is fictional and uses English as demonstration code. Replace its addresses and title before placing it in the page head. Pasting it into an article as ordinary text does not configure the page. Check whether the theme and a plugin output contradictory values too.

<meta property="og:title" content="Example event" />
<meta property="og:type" content="website" />
<meta property="og:url" content="https://example.invalid/event/" />
<meta property="og:image" content="https://example.invalid/media/event-v2.jpg" />

Treat the image as a separate resource

Copy the address published in og:image and check that it opens the intended picture, rather than a login screen or error page. An accessible page does not establish that its image file is accessible too. If you replaced file contents while retaining the same name, include that detail in the diagnosis. A new file version, such as event-v2.jpg in the example, distinguishes resources; publish the file and update its reference together. Changing only the filename written in the tag is insufficient. Keep older images still needed by other pages and inspect the actual card crop. This guide promises neither one universal image size nor identical cropping across applications.

Separate caches and avoid blind fixes

MDN's documentation describes how a cache can reuse stored responses. Your browser, website delivery and the service generating a card may operate differently. Clearing cookies on your laptop is not equivalent to refreshing a copy held by another service. First confirm the website actually delivers the new metadata and image. Then, where available, use the platform's official diagnostic or refresh tool and read its warnings. This guide sets no universal waiting period and does not guarantee that an old post will update. Avoid repeated requests, random extra parameters or many new short links as supposed remedies: they make comparisons harder without necessarily addressing the underlying cause.

Finish by testing the address you will distribute

Once the destination and its resources have been reviewed, create a WikiURL short address if needed and test that exact address in the intended channel. Shortening does not configure the page's metadata or guarantee which image a platform selects. Compare a fresh sharing attempt separately from an earlier post; neither automatically proves the behavior of the other. Keep the entry URL, final destination, image address, screenshot and time of the latest result together. If the mismatch persists, give these details to the maintainer and identify the layers already checked. The useful result is observable evidence of the actual card and destination, without promising that a correct HTTP status resolves social presentation.