Links and link previews

Last updated 2 October 2026

← Help centre · Working in channels

The title and picture shown under a link, what is never opened, and how to remove one.

A web address in a message becomes a link. Links to work tools such as Google Docs, Dropbox, Figma or Jira get a label saying what they are.

Other web pages get a preview: a moment after you send, the site name, the page title, a line about it and a small picture appear under your message.

How it works

Our server opens the page once. The site sees our server, not you, and is not told who wrote or who reads the message.
Only the first link in a message gets a preview.
The picture is a small copy made by our server, so reading the channel does not load anything from the other site.

Links that are never opened

Links that need signing in, such as Google Docs or SharePoint.
Links with a key, token or code in them.
Links where opening the page is the action, such as an invitation, a password reset, a sign-in or an unsubscribe link. Opening them could use them up.
Links to private or local addresses, and links inside `code`.

Remove a preview

Point at the preview under your message.
Choose the small cross in its corner.

It goes for everyone. Only the person who wrote the message can do this. If you edit the message to a different link, the preview changes with it.

For Owners and Admins

Admin, then Channels, then Link previews switches them off or on for the whole workspace. Switching off also removes the previews already shown. A workspace with encrypted message text gets no previews.

For website owners

Our fetcher calls itself IntercomChatBot. It reads only the top of the page and its preview picture, once, when the link is posted.

Was this not what you needed? Email support@intercomchat.com and tell us what you were trying to do.