How to Fix Twitter Embed in Discord

Seeing a plain, unembedded Twitter link in your Discord chat instead of a rich preview with the video or image is incredibly frustrating. You share what you think is a great tweet, only for it to fall flat. This article walks you through exactly why this is happening and provides several simple, immediate fixes - from manual URL tricks anyone can do in seconds to automated solutions for server owners.

Why Are My Twitter Links Not Embedding in Discord?

If you've noticed this issue recently, you're not alone. The problem primarily stems from changes made by X (formerly Twitter) after its rebranding. For years, Discord and other platforms relied on a simple system: when you posted a link, Discord's bot would "visit" the link, grab key information like the preview image, video, title, and description, and then display it neatly as an embed. However, X has made this process more difficult.

There are a few technical reasons behind the breakdown:

• API Changes and Restrictions: X has significantly changed and restricted its API (Application Programming Interface), which is the pipeline other apps use to interact with its data. These days, getting data from X without being a paying user or a heavily vetted partner is much harder, and this includes the basic data needed for a link preview.
• The `x.com` vs. `twitter.com` URL Shift: The transition to the `x.com` domain introduced new redirect behaviors. Sometimes, the preview bot that Discord uses gets lost in these redirects or fails to pull the metadata before timing out.
• User-Agent Blocking: Some services actively block or provide limited information to automated bots (which have a "user-agent" identifier) to prevent data scraping. It's possible X's servers are treating Discord's preview bot differently than they would a regular browser, resulting in a failed embed.

Essentially, Discord is asking X for the embed preview information, but X is often failing to provide it in a way Discord's system can understand. Thankfully, the community has developed some incredibly clever workarounds to force these embeds to appear correctly.

The Easiest Fixes: Quick URL Edits You Can Do Manually

Before you dive into adding bots or changing server settings, the fastest way to fix a broken Twitter embed is by making a small change to the URL itself. These tricks work instantly and don't require any special permissions.

The Go-To Solution: Using `fxtwitter` or `vxtwitter`

This is by far the most reliable and popular method. It uses third-party services specifically designed to create functional, high-quality embeds for social platforms. The services act as a middleman, fetching the content from X and presenting it to Discord in a format it can easily understand, including videos, polls, and multiple images.

Here’s how to do it step-by-step:

1. Find the X link you want to share. For example:
   `https://x.com/YourFavoriteCreator/status/1234567890`
2. Copy the URL.
3. In your Discord message, paste the URL but change the domain. Simply replace `x.com` or `twitter.com` with `fxtwitter.com` or `vxtwitter.com`. Both services are excellent, but many users have found `fxtwitter.com` to be slightly more consistent.

Your new link should look like this:

• Original Link: `https://x.com/YourFavoriteCreator/status/1234567890`
• Fixed Link: `https://fxtwitter.com/YourFavoriteCreator/status/1234567890`

Or this:

• Original Link: `https://twitter.com/YourFavoriteCreator/status/1234567890`
• Fixed Link: `https://vxtwitter.com/YourFavoriteCreator/status/1234567890`

When you post the modified link in Discord, the embed will appear almost instantly, complete with the video, images, text, and author information. It’s a simple trick that works every time. Many Discord users have made a habit of just automatically changing `x.com` to `fxtwitter.com` every time they share a link.

Another Method: Adding "?=" to the End of a Video Link

Sometimes, particularly for video links, you might get an embed to show up by simply adding `?=` to the very end of the URL. This is less understood from a technical perspective but seems to be a strange quirk that can occasionally prompt Discord’s crawler to re-evaluate the link and successfully fetch the preview.

• Original Link: `https://x.com/User/status/VIDEO12345`
• Potential Fix: `https://x.com/User/status/VIDEO12345?=`

This method is not nearly as reliable as the `fxtwitter` trick, but if you're in a pinch and don't want to edit the domain, it's worth trying.

For Server Owners: How to Automate Twitter Embed Fixes with a Bot

Manually editing every link works great for individual users, but it's not a practical solution for a busy community. If you’re a server owner or admin, you can add a bot that automatically fixes broken X links for everyone.

These bots work by detecting when a user posts a standard `x.com` or `twitter.com` link, then they either automatically delete the original message and post the fixed version or reply with a properly formatted link from a service like `fxtwitter`.

Step 1: Find a Link-Fixing Bot

There are several bots designed for this specific purpose. When searching for one, look for terms like "Twitter embed fix bot," "social embed bot," or "auto `fxtwitter` bot." You can find them on popular Discord bot listing sites like top.gg or discord.bots.gg.

A few popular examples known for this function include:

• ControlRR: This is the official bot for the `vxtwitter` and `fxtwitter` services.
• BetterEmbeds: A versatile bot that fixes broken embeds for various platforms, not just X.
• And many others: New bots are developed all the time. Look for one that's well-reviewed, has a high server count, and clear documentation.

Step 2: Add the Bot to Your Server

Once you've chosen a bot, the process of inviting it is straightforward:

1. Find the "Invite" or "Add to Server" button on the bot's website or listing page.
2. Select your server from the dropdown menu that appears. You must have Administrator or Manage Server permissions to do this.
3. Review the requested permissions. The bot will need permission to read messages (to detect links) and send messages (to post the fix). It might also ask for permissions to "Manage Messages" if it's designed to delete the original broken link and replace it. Grant the permissions it needs to function correctly.
4. Complete the authorization step (usually a CAPTCHA) to confirm you're human.

The bot will now appear in your server's member list.

Step 3: Configure and Test the Bot

Most embed-fixing bots work out of the box with zero configuration needed. To test it, simply post a regular `x.com` or `twitter.com` link in a text channel. Within a second or two, the bot should react. It might delete your message and repost a fixed version, or it might just reply with the embed.

If it has configuration options (usually through slash commands like `/settings`), you can often customize its behavior, such as:

• Choosing whether it deletes and replaces the original message or just replies.
• Setting specific channels where the bot should or should not operate.
• Disabling fixes for other platforms if the bot supports them (e.g., TikTok, Instagram).

Troubleshooting: What if It’s Still Not Working?

If you've tried the tricks above and the embeds still aren't appearing, the issue might be related to your Discord settings or a temporary glitch. Here’s a quick troubleshooting checklist.

Check Your User/Server Settings for Link Previews

Discord has settings that can disable link previews either for you as a user or for the entire server. This is the most common reason why embeds fail to appear even with a fixed link.

How to check your Personal User Settings:

1. Click the gear icon in the bottom left of Discord to open User Settings.
2. Go to the "Text &, Images" section.
3. Make sure the option "When posted as links to chat" is toggled on under the "Link Preview" section. If this is turned off, you won't see any link previews from any website.

How to check your Server Settings (for Admins):

1. Right-click on your server icon and go to "Server Settings."
2. Go to the "Roles" tab and select the role(s) that are having issues (e.g., `@everyone`).
3. In the permissions list, scroll down to the "Text Channel Permissions" section and make sure "Embed Links" is enabled. If this is disabled, no user with that role can create link embeds.

Clear Your Discord Cache

Sometimes Discord will "remember" a failed embed attempt for a particular link. Even if you post a fixed version later, it might show the original broken state from its cache. Clearing the cache can force Discord to re-fetch the link from scratch.

How to clear cache on the Discord Desktop App:

1. Fully quit Discord (don't just close the window, right-click the icon in your system tray and select "Quit Discord").
2. Press Windows Key + R to open the Run dialog.
3. Type %appdata%/discord and hit Enter.
4. Select the "Cache," "Code Cache," and "GPUCache" folders and delete them. Don't worry, this is safe and Discord will regenerate them on the next launch.
5. Relaunch Discord and try posting the link again.

Following these steps should solve the vast majority of Twitter or X embed issues you encounter in Discord. Whether you prefer the quick manual fix or setting up a long-term automated solution for your server, you can get back to sharing content seamlessly.

Final Thoughts

This guides you through several reliable solutions, from tweaking the domain to using `fxtwitter.com` for a quick personal fix to installing a bot for server-wide automation. By addressing permissions and cache issues, you can ensure your shared links look just as they should.

Fixing embeds is just one small battle in the larger campaign of managing a social media presence. As creators and marketers, we've felt the constant pain of platforms changing the rules and fighting with clunky tools never built for today’s fast-paced, video-first world. That's why we built Postbase, a social media management platform designed from the ground up for modern content, keeping your accounts connected and ensuring your scheduled posts actually publish, without fail.