Sharing images on Telegram channels without previews? Teach you how to fix Cloudflare, 301 redirects, and og:image issues

Who would have thought that the same link, thrown intoTelegramThe channel becomes bare text, like a bowl of clear soup noodles without seasoning.Google ChromeBut it can open pictures in seconds? 🤯 The difference is outrageous!

Telegram preview image ≠ the image seen in the browser

Let’s make one thing clear: the preview images you see in the Telegram channel are not “images on the web”, but are secretly crawled by the Telegram robot. Open Graph (OG) tags.

If your page says:

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

Telegram will display this picture obediently.

But - if the web page does not haveog:image, or the image is blocked by anti-hotlink blocking, the robot will be confused and will only give you a bare link.

Chrome is a person walking in, Telegram is a robot looking through the fence

Chrome is like you going to a store in person, where the merchant will of course serve you tea and water and present you with pictures.

Telegram bots are more like peeking through a window, sometimes blocked by the reflection of the glass, and you can't see anything. 🙈

That's why one can show and the other is blind.

Several common pitfalls

1. Hotlink Protection

Some websites have enabled anti-hotlinking strategies: as long as the Referer is not their own domain name, all will be 403!

There is no problem with Chrome access because you open it directly.

Telegram's Referer comes fromt.me, and was stopped directly.

2. Jump logic has pitfalls

Many people use CDN or subdomains, which results in 301 redirects. Browsers are smart and will automatically complete the URL to HTTPS.

The Telegram robot foolishly requested HTTP → was blocked by security policy → the image disappeared.

3. Cloudflare rule interception

Sites using Cloudflare are often attacked. Even if Hotlink is not turned on, Cloudflare WAF, Bot Fight ModeEven rate limiting will misidentify TelegramBot as a "bad crawler". As a result, the preview images are completely wiped out.

4. No OG tags

Some site owners don't bother adding Open Graph. The result? Telegram doesn't even know which image is the cover.

It's like a book without a cover. No one can understand it when it's on the bookshelf.

Do-it-yourself universal testing method

Want to know if your link will include an image in Telegram? Here are three steps!

Step One: Check the OG Tags

Open the source code of the web page and search <meta property="og:image".

Is there one? If not, try adding one.

Step 2: Simulate Telegram request

Test with the command line:

curl -I -A "TelegramBot (like TwitterBot)" https://www.chenweiliang.com/

Check the status code returned. 200 = Safe ✅ 403 = Blocked ❌ 301/302 = Redirect issue 🤔

Step 3: Send yourself a private message

The most direct way is to send the link to "Saved Messages". If the thumbnail can be displayed, there is probably no problem in the channel.

Several ways to solve the problem

1. Add OG tags to the header of the web page

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

2. Cloudflare Adjustment

• Turn off Hotlink Protection.
• Allow in firewall rules TelegramBot.
• Enable "Always Use HTTPS" to avoid the embarrassment of 301 redirection to HTTP.

3. Image size must be compliant

Minimum requirements for Telegram preview images:

• Width ≥ 300px, Height ≥ 200px
• Use JPG/PNG format, don’t use WebP.

Why does the browser work but Telegram doesn’t?

In one sentence: Chrome automatically "fills in the blanks" and fixes a bunch of small errors, but the Telegram robot is not smart at all and only follows the most rigid logic.

Therefore, just because the browser can see the image does not mean that Telegram can see it.

Conclusion

In my opinion, preview images are no longer just minor details to be tweaked; they're the primary frontier of content distribution. OG tags are the face of social media. If this link fails, traffic to your site will be halved.

When we discuss the differences between Telegram and Chrome, we are essentially discussing Differences in how machines and humans perceive information.

Chrome is a personified smart tour guide, while the Telegram robot is more like a cold law enforcement officer, strictly adhering to the HTTP protocol and not giving you any more help.

Therefore,The preview image problem is not a small bug, but a soul-searching question about your website content ecology.Whoever can ensure perfect display in all environments is the real content powerhouse.

👉 So, next time before you send a link, check it carefully to avoid sending a bare, lonely link in the group, which looks even more deserted than an emoticon.