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Character counter
See how many characters your text has, and how it fits the limits on X, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube, Google and text messages.
Will it fit?
Your text against the limits of the places you post it, as each one counts.
- X (Twitter)Post0 / 280
280 left
- ThreadsPost0 / 500
500 left
- BlueskyPost0 / 300
300 left
- InstagramCaption0 / 2,200
2,200 left
- LinkedInPost0 / 3,000
3,000 left
- FacebookPost0 / 63,206
63,206 left
- TikTokCaption0 / 4,000
4,000 left
- YouTubeVideo title0 / 100
100 left
- YouTubeDescription0 / 5,000
5,000 left
- GoogleTitle tag (shown in full)0 / 60
60 left
- GoogleMeta description0 / 160
160 left
- SMSText message0 / 160
GSM-7 · 160 characters per message
- 0 /
500 left
How to use the character counter
- Type or paste your text, or open a text file.
- Read the total on the right, with and without spaces, plus words, lines, sentences and the size in bytes.
- Check the cards under the text: each platform shows how much room is left, and turns red when you go over.
- Add your own limit for a form field, a bio or anything else, in the last card.
Character limits by platform in 2026
These are the limits for regular accounts. Platforms change them from time to time, and some paid plans allow more.
| Where | Limit | Good to know |
|---|---|---|
| X (Twitter) post | 280 | Links count as 23; Chinese, Japanese, Korean characters and emoji count as 2. Premium accounts can post up to 25,000. |
| Threads post | 500 | About a short paragraph; split longer thoughts into a thread. |
| Bluesky post | 300 | Counted as characters you see, so an emoji is 1. |
| Instagram caption | 2,200 | Only the first lines show before “more”, so lead with the point. |
| LinkedIn post | 3,000 | About 210 characters show before “see more”. |
| Facebook post | 63,206 | Shorter posts get read: most good ones are under 250. |
| TikTok caption | 4,000 | Hashtags count toward the limit. |
| YouTube title | 100 | About 70 characters show in search results. |
| YouTube description | 5,000 | The first 100 to 150 characters show above the fold. |
| Google title tag | ~60 | Google cuts titles by width (about 600 pixels), not by a fixed count. |
| Google meta description | ~160 | Also cut by width; on phones a little more text may show. |
| SMS text message | 160 / 70 | 160 plain characters, or 70 with emoji or some accented letters. Longer messages are split into parts. |
How characters are counted
The main count is characters as a reader sees them, including spaces, punctuation and line breaks. An emoji such as 👍🏽 or a flag counts as one, even though it is stored as several code points underneath. Most platforms count this way, with the exceptions in the table above; the X card follows X’s own rules, and the SMS card counts the way phone networks do.
UTF-8 bytes is the size of your text saved as a file or sent to most web forms: plain English letters take 1 byte, accented letters 2, most Asian characters 3 and emoji 4. UTF-16 units is how JavaScript and some databases measure length, which is why a field may reject text that looks short enough: each emoji takes 2 units or more.
How SMS messages are split
Text messages use a small 7-bit alphabet called GSM-7, which fits 160 characters in one message. A few symbols, such as €, [, ] and ~, take two places. As soon as your message contains one character outside that alphabet, such as an emoji, a curly quote from a word processor or a letter like ł, the whole message switches to Unicode and fits only 70 characters.
Longer messages are sent in parts and joined on the phone. Each part loses a few characters to the joining information: 153 per part for GSM-7 and 67 for Unicode. The SMS card shows how many parts your message needs, and which characters forced Unicode, so you can swap them for plain ones. The text cleaner turns curly quotes into straight ones in one click.
Questions and answers
Do spaces count as characters?
Yes, on every platform. The counter shows both numbers: with spaces (what limits use) and without spaces (what some school and translation work asks for).
Do emoji count as one character or two?
Usually one, as you see them. X counts each emoji as 2, and in a text message an emoji turns the whole message into Unicode, which cuts the room from 160 to 70 characters. Code that measures string length in JavaScript sees 2 or more.
How many words fit in 280 characters?
Around 40 to 55 words of English, depending on word length. An average English word is about 5 letters plus a space.
Why does X show a different count?
X counts every link as 23 characters however long it is, and counts Chinese, Japanese and Korean characters and emoji as 2. The X card on this page follows the same rules.
How long should a meta description be?
Up to about 155 to 160 characters, so it is not cut off in Google’s results. Google measures width in pixels, so text with many wide letters gets cut a little earlier.
Is my text saved or sent anywhere?
It is saved in this browser so it is there next time, and never sent anywhere. Clear removes it.