Productivity
Character Limit Checker
Check your text against character limits for X, SMS, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn and Google titles and descriptions as you type.
About the Character Limit Checker
The Character Limit Checker shows, as you type, how much room you have left on popular platforms: X, SMS, Google titles and meta descriptions, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn and Facebook. It counts the way X really does, works out how many SMS messages your text needs, and turns each bar yellow or red as you get close to or go over a limit.
What you can do with the Character Limit Checker
- 18 limits: X, Threads, Instagram, WhatsApp, Telegram, YouTube, LinkedIn, Pinterest and more.
- See what's cut off: Over-limit text is highlighted.
- Trim to fit: Shorten at a whole word in one tap.
- Counts like X does: Links count as 23 and most emoji as 2.
- SMS parts: How many messages your text needs.
The limits included
X posts allow 280 characters and a single SMS 160. An Instagram bio allows 150 and a caption 2,200. YouTube titles allow 100 characters and descriptions 5,000; LinkedIn posts 3,000 and headlines 220. Facebook shows about 477 characters before "See more". Google titles are usually cut after about 60 characters and descriptions after about 155–160.
Counting like X and your phone do
X counts every link as 23 characters whatever its length, and most emoji as 2, the "X counts it as" box does the same. An SMS with an emoji or Hindi text switches to Unicode, where one message holds only 70 characters; the SMS box shows how many messages you'll actually send.
Writing to a limit
Put the most important words first, so they survive if the text is cut off. Trim filler words like "really", "very" and "just" before cutting real information.
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many characters can an X post have?
280 for standard accounts. Links always count as 23 characters and most emoji as 2, see the "X counts it as" box.
Why does my SMS count as two messages?
Long texts are split into parts, and an emoji or non-Latin letter switches the whole SMS to Unicode, which fits only 70 characters per message.
Do spaces count as characters?
Yes, on every platform listed here.
Does Hindi text count double on X?
No. X counts most Indian scripts, including Devanagari, as one character each, and this tool does the same. Hindi does matter for SMS though: any Hindi letter switches the message to Unicode, so one SMS holds only 70 characters instead of 160.
How long should a Google title and meta description be?
Aim for about 50 to 60 characters for a title and up to about 155 to 160 for a meta description. Google actually cuts by pixel width, not characters, so these are guides. The bars here use 60 and 160.
How many characters are allowed in an Instagram bio and caption?
An Instagram bio can have 150 characters and a caption up to 2,200. Only the first part of a long caption shows before "more", so put the key line first. Both limits have their own bar in this tool.
What are the YouTube title and description limits?
A YouTube title can be up to 100 characters and a description up to 5,000. Titles are often cut short in search results and on phones, so keep the important words near the start.
What is the character limit for a LinkedIn post and headline?
A LinkedIn post allows 3,000 characters and a profile headline 220. LinkedIn shows only the first few lines of a post before "see more", so the opening sentence carries most of the weight.
What do the green, yellow and red bars mean?
Green means you are comfortably within the limit. A bar turns yellow once you pass 90% of it, and red with a cross when you go over, along with how many characters you are over by.
Why do some symbols like € or [ ] count as two in an SMS?
These characters are in the GSM extension table, so each one takes two of the 160 slots in a plain SMS. The tool counts the brackets, braces, ^, ~, |, backslash and € this way.
Is the text I paste sent anywhere?
No. The counting happens in your browser as you type, and the text is not uploaded or stored by the tool, so you can safely check drafts of posts, titles or messages that are not public yet.
Which platforms does it check?
18 limits: X, SMS, Threads, Instagram caption and bio, WhatsApp About, Telegram message and photo caption, YouTube title and description, LinkedIn post and headline, Facebook (before See more), Pinterest pin title and description, Google Business posts, and Google title and meta description.
How do I see exactly what gets cut off?
Choose a platform under "Check one platform closely". Your text appears with everything over the limit highlighted in red and crossed out, plus how many characters you are over. Your choice is remembered next time.
What does Trim to fit do?
It shortens your text to fit the chosen platform, ending at a whole word where it can and adding "…". "Copy what fits" copies the trimmed version without changing your text, so you can paste it straight into the app.
What is the WhatsApp About limit?
The About line under your WhatsApp name holds 139 characters. Normal WhatsApp messages can be much longer, so there is no practical limit to check for chats.
Read the guide
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