Rickroll link generator

A fake preview, a real video. No ads, no popups, no trackers.

How it looks in chat

1200 × 630 image

inlandherald.com

Your headline appears here

Your description appears here.

What this tool does

You type a headline, a description and an image URL. The site stores those three things and serves a page that declares them as preview metadata, so a chat app builds a card from them: your headline, your description, your picture. Tapping it plays Rick Astley's Never Gonna Give You Up and says plainly that they have been rickrolled.

No account and no tracking script. The only thing stored is what you typed, because that is the product.

How a Rick Roll link actually works

Every chat app builds link previews the same way: it fetches the URL, reads tags in the page <head> — og:title,og:description, og:image, og:image:widthand og:image:height — and paints a card from them. Those fetchers do not run the page's JavaScript, so the tags have to be in the HTML the server sends, per link, at the moment it is requested. That is why every prank link here gets its own document instead of one page that rewrites itself in the browser.

Two details decide whether the card looks convincing. The image has to be reachable: a public https URL, ideally 1200×630 and under 300 KB, with no hotlink protection in front of it. And the tags have to be complete — a card with a title but no image looks stripped down, and wrong dimensions get cropped. This site emits the full set and falls back to a neutral image rather than shipping an empty rectangle.

Why previews fail, and what to do about it

The live preview above is the cheapest test available: it loads your image the way a messenger would and says so when the URL cannot be fetched, instead of producing a dead card you only notice after sending it. The usual causes are an http image, one that needs a session, or one that is too heavy.

Apps also cache a preview the first time they see a link, which is why a link is never edited after it is created: the address always means the same card, and removing it is a deliberate takedown.

What it will never be used for

This is a joke tool, and it is built to stay one. A link can only ever open the player page on this domain — you cannot point it at another site, so it cannot be used as a redirect, a cloaker or a shortener for something else. The form never asks for a password, a card number, a phone number or an email, and no template mentions money, prizes, warnings or account trouble. There are no fake login screens and no brand names borrowed from real companies, because those are the ingredients that turn a prank into a phishing page.

A link used for harassment, impersonation or anything asking a stranger for personal details is removed on request, and the address shows a plain "removed" page. That protects the person on the other end — and it is self-interest too, because a domain that hosts phishing-shaped pages gets blocked by browsers and providers, and then the joke stops working.

Print it, post it, paste it

Each link comes with a QR code in two formats: an SVG that stays sharp for print, and a square PNG for screenshots. Keep the printed code at least 2 cm across and keep it square — around 1.5 cm phone cameras start missing it, and stretching it breaks it at any size.

Privacy in one paragraph

No cookies, no advertising, nothing sold, and no tracking script of our own. The count under the video is a rough number from our own server, de-duplicated per visitor for thirty minutes, with preview fetchers counted separately so a link nobody opened does not look popular. Page views are a cookieless aggregate count at Cloudflare's edge. The video is ayoutube-nocookie.com embed. The privacy policy lists every field a link stores.

Rick Roll links you can send right now

Copy one and send it — these are real links, not previews.

Free pizza in the break room 🍕
Leaked trailer dropped early
Huge update confirmed — full patch notes
Our school camera caught this at 3 am
Weather update for the weekend
Study confirms cats understand English

Questions

What is a Rick Roll link?

A link that looks like an ordinary article but plays Rick Astley's “Never Gonna Give You Up” when it opens. This site builds one from the headline, description and image you choose, so the chat preview matches what you typed.

How do I make a rickroll link?

Type a headline and a description, paste an image URL for a picture in the card, and press Create link. You get a short link, a copy button and a QR code — no signup, no email address.

Is it free?

Yes, and there are no ads anywhere on the site — not here and not on the page your friend opens. No account, no paywall, and no limit beyond a small anti-spam rate limit.

Can people tell it is a rickroll before they open it?

The card shows your headline, description and image plus a plain destination domain, so it looks like a normal article. The page it opens says “You've been rickrolled” immediately — the joke is the surprise, not a trick that keeps going.

Does it work in Discord, WhatsApp, Slack and iMessage?

They build the preview from Open Graph tags, which this site sets per link: title, description, image, dimensions and a large Twitter card. If an image is unreachable or too heavy, the card falls back to text.

Can I use my own image?

Yes. Paste a direct https image URL, ideally 1200×630 and under 300 KB. The preview above updates as you type and tells you when one cannot load.

How small can I print the QR code?

At least 2 cm (0.8 in) wide. Below roughly 1.5 cm cameras start failing, and stretching it out of square breaks it. Use the SVG for print.

Can I delete a link I made?

Yes — use the report address and the link is taken down, returning a clear “removed” page instead of the video. Links are never edited in place, so a shared address cannot change meaning.