LinkedIn Post Inspector: fix link previews before you post
Link preview checks before posting
LinkedIn Post Inspector is LinkedIn's own tool for checking the link card a URL will produce when someone shares it. You'll find it at linkedin.com/post-inspector. People also search for it as "LinkedIn debug" or the LinkedIn debugger, because it's how you debug a link preview on LinkedIn.
It answers one question: when this page is shared, which title, image and description will LinkedIn show, and why? It doesn't preview the text of your post. That's a separate check, covered at the end.
What Post Inspector shows you
Paste a URL and the tool returns four things:
- A preview under "When this link is shared, the content will look like this", showing the card as LinkedIn will build it.
- Ingestion feedback: errors and warnings about the page, such as a missing title or an image LinkedIn rejected.
- URL information: Last scraped (when LinkedIn last fetched the page), the Fetched URL, the Canonical URL and the URL redirect trail.
- Properties: Title, Type, Image, Description, Author and Publish date. For each one it says where the value came from (an Open Graph tag, an oEmbed tag or a default) and lists alternate values it considered. Click a property to see an example tag for fixing it.
How to use Post Inspector
- Open linkedin.com/post-inspector and sign in if LinkedIn asks.
- Paste the exact URL you plan to share, including the
https://and any tracking parameters. - Select Inspect.
- Check the preview first, then Ingestion feedback, then URL information.
- Fix the page, publish the change, and inspect the URL again until the preview is right.
- Only then create your LinkedIn post.
Refresh a cached LinkedIn link preview
LinkedIn stores what it scraped from a URL. If you changed a page's image or title after someone shared it, LinkedIn can keep showing the old version. LinkedIn's Help Center says running the URL through Post Inspector refreshes the preview image and information.
There's a catch the same page spells out: the refresh affects new posts that include the URL. Posts already published keep the preview they had. If a live post shows the wrong card, the refresh won't change it; you'd have to publish a new post.
LinkedIn's troubleshooting page for shared URLs also says it refreshes its cache on its own and suggests allowing 48 hours after the last share before trying again. Inspecting is the faster route; waiting is the fallback when inspecting doesn't take.
The Open Graph tags LinkedIn reads
LinkedIn's guide to shareable websites lists four Open Graph tags that must exist: og:title, og:image, og:description and og:url. Put them in the page's <head>:
<meta property="og:title" content="LinkedIn character limits" />
<meta property="og:description" content="Every field, with sources." />
<meta property="og:image" content="https://example.com/share.png" />
<meta property="og:url" content="https://example.com/limits" />
Post Inspector also reports og:type, an author (it suggests <meta name="author">) and a publish date. LinkedIn's Help Center doesn't list those as required, but the tool flags them when it can't find them. LinkedIn can read oEmbed tags as well.
For the image, LinkedIn's sharing requirements are:
| Requirement | LinkedIn's figure |
|---|---|
| Minimum size | 1200 × 627 pixels |
| Recommended ratio | 1.91:1 |
| Maximum file size | 5 MB |
| Thumbnail behavior | Images under 401 pixels wide display as a thumbnail |
Use an absolute image URL that loads without a login. LinkedIn notes that an image in a protected directory or site may not appear even when it meets the size rules.
Common Post Inspector problems and fixes
| What you see | Likely cause | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Old title or image | LinkedIn is using an earlier scrape | Inspect the URL again; it fixes new posts, not existing ones |
| Wrong image, such as a logo or an unrelated photo | No og:image, or LinkedIn rejected yours | Add og:image; read the image warning in Ingestion feedback |
| Small thumbnail instead of a wide card | Image under 401 pixels wide | Use an image of at least 1200 × 627 pixels |
| "The scraper couldn't find any metadata at this URL" | Tags missing from the HTML LinkedIn fetched | Put the tags in the page's <head>; tags injected later by scripts may not be seen |
| Preview of a different page | A redirect, or a canonical URL pointing elsewhere | Check URL redirect trail and Canonical URL; fix the redirect or og:url |
| No image even though the tag is right | Firewall, bot protection, a login wall or robots.txt blocks LinkedIn | Allow LinkedIn's fetcher, which usually appears as LinkedInBot in server logs |
| Error when sharing | Spaces in the URL | Encode or remove the spaces |
Image warnings are specific. Post Inspector can report that an image is smaller than the accepted size, has an aspect ratio that's too high, or has a compression ratio that's too high. Fix the one it names instead of swapping images at random.
If it says "We ran into a problem on our side when we tried to scrape your URL", the fault is on LinkedIn's side. Try again later before changing your page.
Post Inspector vs previewing your post text
Post Inspector checks the card a link produces. It won't show how your post's words will sit in the feed: where the opening gets cut off by "...more", how line breaks look on a phone, or whether the first lines say anything.
That's what OutreachGenie's free LinkedIn post preview is for. Write or paste a draft and it renders a LinkedIn-style feed card:
- Phone and desktop layouts, in light or dark theme.
- An estimated see-more cut-off after the first three lines, with a toggle to expand.
- A character counter against LinkedIn's 3,000-character post limit.
- Images, a GIF or a document attached, so you can judge the copy and media together.
- Drafts stay in your browser. No account is needed.
- Continue on LinkedIn copies your text and opens LinkedIn's post box. With the OutreachGenie extension installed, it fills in the text and media for you. Nothing is published automatically.
Its link card is a placeholder: it shows the domain but doesn't load the page's title or image. The tool says so and links to Post Inspector for that check. It's also an independent preview, not LinkedIn's, so the LinkedIn composer remains the final check. For other fields such as headlines, comments or connection notes, use the LinkedIn character limit checker.
A sensible order before you publish a post with a link:
- Inspect the URL and fix the card.
- Preview the draft and tighten the opening.
- Paste it into LinkedIn and look once more before you post.
Questions that come up in practice
Common questions
What is LinkedIn Post Inspector?
Post Inspector is LinkedIn's official tool at linkedin.com/post-inspector. It shows how a URL will appear when shared on LinkedIn, which title, image, description, author and publish date it found, where each value came from, any errors or warnings, the redirect trail, and when LinkedIn last scraped the page.
How do I refresh a LinkedIn link preview?
Update the page's Open Graph tags, then paste the URL into Post Inspector and select Inspect. LinkedIn says this refreshes the preview image and information for new posts that include the URL. If the old card still appears, LinkedIn suggests allowing 48 hours from the last share before trying again.
Does Post Inspector update posts I already published?
No. LinkedIn's Help Center says a refresh only affects new posts that include the URL, and existing posts keep the preview they were published with. To show the corrected card, publish a new post after inspecting the URL.
Why is LinkedIn showing the wrong image for my link?
Usually the page has no og:image tag, the image is below LinkedIn's accepted size or ratio, or LinkedIn is still using an earlier scrape. Post Inspector names the problem in Ingestion feedback. Add an og:image of at least 1200 × 627 pixels that loads without a login, then inspect the URL again.
What image size does LinkedIn use for link previews?
LinkedIn lists a minimum of 1200 × 627 pixels, a recommended ratio of 1.91:1 and a maximum file size of 5 MB for shared link images. Images narrower than 401 pixels display as a small thumbnail instead of a wide card.
Is there a LinkedIn debug tool for posts?
For links, Post Inspector is LinkedIn's debugging tool: it shows the metadata LinkedIn scraped and why it chose each value. It does not check post text. To see the see-more cut-off and line breaks of a draft, use a post preview such as OutreachGenie's free LinkedIn post preview, then check the LinkedIn composer before publishing.
Research used for this guide
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