How to use the social media character counter and limits
- Type or paste your post, caption or message into Your text.
- Read the counts above: characters, words, lines, hashtags, mentions, links, UTF-8 bytes and visible symbols.
- Look at the limits below. Each shows how many characters are left or how many you are over, with a meter and words, so it does not rely on color.
- Edit any limit to match the platform you are writing for, since the limits shown are examples.
What is counted
A character here is a Unicode character, so a letter, a digit, a space, a symbol or an emoji each count as one. A simple emoji is one character but takes four bytes to store, which is why the UTF-8 byte count is shown too. Some marks are built from several characters, such as a flag or a family emoji. The visible symbols count treats each of those as one mark, as a reader sees it.
Words are groups of text separated by spaces or line breaks. Hashtags are words that start with # and mentions are words that start with @. Links are anything starting with http:// or https://. Lines are separated by line breaks.
Limits are examples you can change
The limits listed are example numbers: 280 for an X post, 2,200 for an Instagram caption, 3,000 for a LinkedIn post, 100 for a YouTube title and 160 for one text message. Platforms change their limits and have different rules, so confirm the number on the platform before relying on it. Edit any limit to the figure you need and the meter updates at once.
Platforms also count differently. Some give links a fixed length however long the address is, some count certain characters as more than one, and a text message that holds non-Latin characters or emoji may be split into shorter parts. This tool counts each character once and cannot copy those rules, so a post that is a few characters under here may be over on the platform. Leave a margin if you are close to the limit.
Writing within a limit
Put the most important words first, because feeds often cut off the end of a long post. Use fewer hashtags, put links in the right place and check that important words are not left out. If you need links with tracking codes, build them with the UTM link builder. To change capital letters, use the case converter, and for a full word count and reading time use the word counter. Check how easy a longer text is to read with the readability score calculator.
The text stays in your browser and is never sent anywhere.
Assumptions and limits
- The limits are example values you can edit. They are not claimed to be current or official for any platform.
- Characters are counted as Unicode characters, with each emoji counted once. Platforms may weigh characters or links differently.
- Visible symbols use the browser's text segmentation. Very old browsers fall back to counting characters.
- Text is limited to 200,000 characters so the page stays responsive.
Frequently asked questions
How many characters can I use in a post?
It depends on the platform, and the limits change. Type your text, edit the limit in the box for the platform you are using, and the counter shows how many characters remain.
Does an emoji count as one character?
Here yes, each emoji counts once, and the visible symbols count treats a joined emoji such as a flag or a family as one. Some platforms count emoji differently, so leave a margin.
Why does the byte count differ from the character count?
Plain English letters take one byte each, but accented letters take two, many symbols three and emoji four. The byte count matters for systems that limit size instead of characters.
Are hashtags and links counted?
They are part of the text, so they count as characters. The tool also shows how many hashtags, mentions and links you used.