Flickr makes sharing and embedding your photos and albums easy, but you might occasionally encounter problems. These can include a missing or disabled share icon, social media sharing options you can’t select, or embedded images that don’t display correctly on a website.
This guide walks you through the most common causes and how to fix them.
Before attempting the the troubleshoot options, please note the following regarding content with specific Safety Levels applied:
- Moderate content. Cannot be shared directly to social media.
- Restricted content. Private restricted content cannot be shared. Public restricted content cannot use the Share icon, but you can share its URL.
More information regarding Safety Levels can be found here: Guide to Safety Levels
Issues & troubleshooting options
Share icon is missing
The share icon should be visible for every image, even if the owner has disabled sharing. If you don’t see it:
- Try viewing the same image in another supported web browser.
- Fix common browser issues that can cause Flickr to stop working:
- Enable cookies
- Clear your browser cache and cookies
- Disable add-ons or extensions that may interfere
Social media website icons can't be selected
If the owner of the photo has disabled sharing, these icons won't be available to select. While you can't change another Flickr member’s preferences, you can see what the sharing options include by visiting your own preferences page.
HTML embed, BBCode, or links display incorrectly
If your website only shows code, a plain text link, or a broken image:
- Make sure the photo is public. Private content can’t be displayed outside Flickr.
- The website you’re posting to may no longer support embedded media.
- Some platforms require specific formatting to display content correctly—check their support documentation for instructions.
Important: When embedding Flickr content on an external website, the Flickr Terms of Use require that the embed includes a link back to Flickr.