When you share a link on Facebook, the preview image is what people notice first. If the image is the wrong shape, Facebook crops it, and the crop often lands on a headline, a face, or the most important part of the picture. Getting the size right before you share fixes most preview problems.
The short answer: use a 1200 x 630 pixel image, which is a 1.91:1 ratio. That is the size Facebook uses for link previews. The rest of this guide explains why that number matters, what happens when you ignore it, and how to crop any image to fit.
Why 1200 x 630 is the link preview size
Facebook builds link previews from the page you share, using the image the page declares as its preview image. The preview slot is wide and short, about 1.91 times wider than it is tall. An image at 1200 x 630 fills that slot exactly, with no cropping and no empty bars.
Smaller images still work, down to a minimum of 600 x 315, but they look softer on large screens. Images under 200 x 200 are rejected outright, and Facebook may then show no image at all. Uploading at 1200 x 630 gives you the sharpest result without an oversized file.
Link previews are not feed photos
This is the most common mix-up. A photo you upload directly to a post follows feed rules, where portrait 1080 x 1350 or square 1080 x 1080 take up the most space. A link preview follows different rules, because Facebook generates it from the linked page rather than from your upload.
If you design a tall portrait image and use it as a link preview image, Facebook will crop the top and bottom to fit the wide slot. Faces get cut, headlines get cut, and the preview looks broken. Design wide for link previews, and save tall designs for direct photo posts.
Step 1: Check your current preview
Before you redesign anything, share the link privately or use a preview checker to see what Facebook currently pulls. Note three things: which image appears, whether anything important is cropped, and whether the image looks blurry. If the wrong image appears, the page is declaring the wrong preview image, and resizing alone will not fix it.
Step 2: Crop to 1.91:1 with a safe zone
Follow this checklist when you crop:
- Set the crop ratio to 1.91:1 before you resize anything.
- Keep faces, logos, and headline text in the center of the frame.
- Leave a small margin around text, since different devices trim the edges slightly.
- Export at 1200 x 630 as a JPG for photos, or PNG if the image has sharp text or a logo.
- Keep the file under 8 MB, and under 1 MB if you can, so it loads fast and survives compression.
If your source image is square or portrait, you have two choices: crop it to the wide ratio, or place it on a wide background with a color or pattern filling the sides. Cropping is cleaner when the subject fits; a background layout is better when cropping would cut something important.
Step 3: Test the preview again
After you update the image, Facebook may still show the old one because previews are cached. Use Facebook’s sharing debugger to refresh the cached preview for the URL, then share the link again and check it on both desktop and mobile. Mobile crops can differ, so always check both.
If the new image still does not appear, confirm the image URL is absolute, publicly reachable, and not blocked by a login wall. A preview image behind a login cannot be fetched by Facebook at all.
Try the free cropper
You can crop by hand in any image editor, but matching the exact 1.91:1 ratio and checking the result takes trial and error. The tool below crops your image to the social card ratio and lets you preview the result. Open the full Aspect Ratio Optimizer tool for the complete version.
Quick reference
For link previews, remember one number: 1200 x 630 at 1.91:1. For direct photo posts, use 1080 x 1350 portrait or 1080 x 1080 square. Keep text centered, export sharp, and refresh the cached preview after every change. That short routine prevents nearly every ugly link preview.