TextLimits — Words, Characters & Limits
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Social Media Character Counter

Paste your post, caption or copy above and click a platform preset to see how many characters you have left — or how far over the limit you are.

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Limit Mode

Platform presets
1

Paste your text

Type or paste your post, caption or copy into the editor above.

2

Click a preset

Choose a platform chip in the Limit Mode panel — SMS, X, LinkedIn and more.

3

See your count

The gauge updates instantly. Green means you're within the limit.

Social media character limits

Reference limits last checked June 2026. Platform rules can change — always check the platform before publishing critical copy.

Platform Char limit
X / Twitter 280
SMS (GSM-7) 160
LinkedIn post 3,000
Instagram caption 2,200
YouTube description 5,000
Meta title ~60
Meta description ~155
Email subject line ~60
Facebook post 63,206
Pinterest description 500
TikTok caption 2,200
YouTube title 100

Limits marked ~ are guidelines measured in pixels, not characters. Actual truncation depends on character width.

Writing within character limits

Put the key message first

Most platforms truncate with a "more" link. Your core point — the hook, the offer, the action — should land in the first 125–210 characters before the fold.

Save room for hashtags

On Instagram and LinkedIn, hashtags count toward the character limit. Draft your copy first, then add hashtags and check the total before publishing.

URLs use fixed character counts on X

X shortens all links to 23 characters regardless of the original URL length. Factor this into your 280-character budget if you are including a link.

Emoji can count as more than one character

Some platforms count emoji as 2 characters. For SMS, any emoji triggers Unicode mode and drops the limit to 70 characters per segment. Test before sending.

Social Media Character Limits FAQ

What is the character limit for X / Twitter?
X (formerly Twitter) allows up to 280 characters per post. X applies its own rules for URLs (counted as 23 characters regardless of length) and some emoji or non-Latin characters may count as 2 characters. TextLimits gives a general character count — always check the platform counter before publishing.
How many characters can an SMS be?
A standard SMS using the GSM-7 character set is 160 characters. Messages using Unicode (emoji, accented letters, non-Latin scripts) are limited to 70 characters per segment. Longer messages are split into multiple segments. TextLimits uses 160 as the standard baseline.
What is the LinkedIn post character limit?
LinkedIn allows up to 3,000 characters for personal posts. The feed preview truncates around 210 characters before a "see more" link. Write your key message in the first 210 characters to capture attention before the fold.
What is the Instagram caption character limit?
Instagram captions can be up to 2,200 characters. However, the feed truncates at around 125 characters with a "more" link. Hashtags and @mentions count toward the limit.
What is the YouTube description character limit?
YouTube descriptions support up to 5,000 characters. Only the first 157 characters appear in search results, so put your most important content and keywords early.
Are meta title and meta description limits exact?
No — search engines measure meta titles and descriptions in pixels, not characters. The guidelines (60 characters for titles, 155 characters for descriptions) are widely used approximations based on average character widths. Wider characters like W and M can cause truncation earlier; narrower characters give you more room.
How do I use the platform presets?
Paste or type your text above. In the Limit Mode panel on the right (or below on mobile), click any platform chip such as X 280 or LinkedIn 3000. The gauge and remaining character count update instantly.
Can I link directly to a specific platform limit?
Yes. You can link directly to a specific preset by adding it to the page URL.
  • https://textlimits.com/tools/social-media-character-counter/?preset=x X / Twitter 280
  • https://textlimits.com/tools/social-media-character-counter/?preset=sms SMS 160
  • https://textlimits.com/tools/social-media-character-counter/?preset=linkedin LinkedIn 3,000
  • https://textlimits.com/tools/social-media-character-counter/?preset=instagram Instagram 2,200
  • https://textlimits.com/tools/social-media-character-counter/?preset=youtube-description YouTube description 5,000
  • https://textlimits.com/tools/social-media-character-counter/?preset=meta-title Meta title 60
  • https://textlimits.com/tools/social-media-character-counter/?preset=meta-description Meta description 155
  • https://textlimits.com/tools/social-media-character-counter/?preset=email-subject Email subject 60

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