SharePoint image links no longer behave as direct image URLs

[nakel-ola]

Target SharePoint environment

SharePoint Online

What SharePoint development model, framework, SDK or API is this about?

not applicable

Developer environment

macOS

What browser(s) / client(s) have you tested

• 💥 Internet Explorer
• 💥 Microsoft Edge
• 💥 Google Chrome
• 💥 FireFox
• 💥 Safari
• mobile (iOS/iPadOS)
• mobile (Android)
• not applicable
• other (enter in the "Additional environment details" area below)

Additional environment details

No response

Describe the bug / error

Image links generated from SharePoint using the standard “Copy link” option have suddenly changed behavior.
These links previously returned the actual image file (JPG/PNG), which allowed them to be used directly inside <img> tags.

This week, the same links now return an HTML preview page instead of the actual image.
This change breaks existing integrations where users paste these links expecting them to behave like direct file URLs.

Direct file URLs (the ones containing the full library path and filename) continue to work normally.

Steps to reproduce

1. Go to a SharePoint document library and select an image.
2. Click Copy link and use the generated sharing link.
3. Try to use this link as an <img src="..."> or fetch it expecting an image.
4. The link returns an HTML preview page instead of the image binary.

Expected behavior

The sharing link should return the actual image file, as it previously did, so it can be used directly in <img> tags.

[Ashlesha-MSFT]

@nakel-ola,
Thank you for reporting this issue. After reviewing the details, it appears that the behavior you’re seeing is a change in SharePoint Online itself, not related to the sp-dev-docs repository. The “Copy link” functionality now returns a preview page rather than the direct image file, which is expected platform behavior.

Since this is not a documentation issue, this GitHub issue is considered invalid for this repo. We recommend logging this directly with Microsoft so it can be tracked and addressed:

• Microsoft Tech Community (SharePoint section): https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/sharepoint/ct-p/SharePoint
• Microsoft Q&A: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/topics/sharepoint.html

For a formal bug or feature investigation, you may also open a support ticket through the Microsoft 365 Admin Center if you have a subscription that provides support.