Reference

Character Limits Reference (2026)

A single, sourced table of the character limits that actually decide whether your copy gets truncated — across social platforms, search results, advertising, SMS, and email. Every figure below is re-checked against the platform's own documentation and listed with its source so you can cite it with confidence.

Reviewed by the Utility Tally Editorial Team | Last updated May 14, 2026

Measure before you publish. Paste your draft into the free word & character counter and compare the live count against any limit in this table. It updates characters with and without spaces, words, sentences, and reading time as you type.

Social media post and caption limits

The hard cap on a single post or caption. Where a platform shows far less than it accepts, the "visible before the fold" figure is the one that matters for your hook.

Social media post and caption character limits
Platform	Field	Limit	Notes	Source
X (Twitter)	Post	280	Free accounts. Every link counts as 23 characters; most emoji count as 2.	help.x.com
X Premium	Longer post	25,000	Paid tiers unlock longer posts (verified orgs included).	help.x.com
Bluesky	Post	300	Counted in graphemes, so one emoji equals one character. Alt text up to 2,000.	bsky.app
Threads	Post / reply	500	Optional text attachment extends a post to 10,000 characters.	threads.com
Instagram	Caption	2,200	Roughly 125 characters show before the "more" fold.	help.instagram.com
TikTok	Video caption	2,200	Newer app builds allow up to 4,000; the posting API caps at 2,200.	tiktok.com
LinkedIn	Post	3,000	About 200 characters show before "see more".	linkedin.com
Facebook	Post	63,206	Widely used figure; Meta does not publish an official number.	Meta (unofficial)
YouTube	Title	100	Only ~60 characters display in most search and feed surfaces.	support.google.com
YouTube	Description	5,000	First ~157 characters appear above the "Show more" fold.	support.google.com
Pinterest	Pin title	100	Feed surfaces show far fewer characters.	help.pinterest.com
Pinterest	Pin description	500	Pinterest Business accounts.	help.pinterest.com

Profile and bio field limits

The secondary fields that catch people out — bios, headlines, and connection notes, all of which tend to be tighter than the main post box.

Profile and bio character limits
Platform	Field	Limit	Source
X (Twitter)	Bio	160	help.x.com
X (Twitter)	Display name	50	help.x.com
Bluesky	Bio	256	bsky.app
Threads	Bio	150	threads.com
Instagram	Bio	150	help.instagram.com
Instagram	Direct message	1,000	help.instagram.com
TikTok	Bio	80	tiktok.com
TikTok	Display name	30	tiktok.com
LinkedIn	Headline	220	linkedin.com
LinkedIn	About / summary	2,600	linkedin.com
LinkedIn	Connection note	200–300	linkedin.com
LinkedIn	Comment	1,250	linkedin.com
YouTube	Channel description	1,000	support.google.com

Search, SEO, ads, SMS, and email limits

Show-up-or-get-cut limits. Search engines and ad platforms usually truncate by pixel width rather than a strict character count, so treat these numbers as reliable targets rather than walls.

SEO, advertising, SMS, and email character limits
Field	Limit	Notes	Source
Meta title (title tag)	~60 chars	Pixel-based (~580px). Google truncates by width, not a hard character count.	Google Search Central
Meta description	~155–160 chars	Google truncates longer snippets by pixel width.	Google Search Central
Google Ads headline	30 × 3	Responsive search ads: up to 3 headlines of 30 characters each.	support.google.com
Google Ads description	90 × 2	Up to 2 descriptions of 90 characters each.	support.google.com
Email subject line	78	RFC 2822 recommended line length; many inboxes clip far sooner on mobile.	RFC 2822
SMS (GSM-7)	160	A single text segment. Longer messages split into 153-character segments.	Twilio
SMS (Unicode)	70	Emoji and non-Latin characters use UCS-2, cutting a segment to 70.	Twilio

Word count targets when there is no character cap

Longer content is usually measured in words, not characters. These are practical planning targets, not platform-enforced limits.

Recommended word count targets
Content type	Target	Why it matters
Blog post	800–1,500 words	Enough depth to answer a query without padding.
SEO article	1,000+ words	Covers a topic fully and gives search engines more to rank.
Essay (academic)	Varies by assignment	Meet the stated target; treat it as a floor for substance.
Social caption (long form)	125–300 words	Long captions suit education, not promotion.
Reading-time rule	200–250 words / min	Most "X min read" labels assume this average.

Rules of thumb when you have no counter open

English averages about 5 characters per word including spaces — divide a character count by 5 to estimate words.
A space counts as a character. "count me" is 8 characters, not 7.
On X, a link is always 23 characters no matter how long the URL is.
Emoji usually count as 2 characters on platforms that count UTF-16 units, and 1 grapheme on those that count graphemes.
When a platform shows its own live counter, that number wins over any estimate.

Open the character counter

Frequently asked questions

What is the character limit for an X (Twitter) post?

Free X accounts can post 280 characters per post. Links count as 23 characters regardless of length, and most emoji count as 2 characters. X Premium paid tiers unlock longer posts up to 25,000 characters.

How many characters can an Instagram caption have?

Instagram captions allow up to 2,200 characters, but only about the first 125 characters appear before the "more" fold, so front-load the hook. The Instagram bio is limited to 150 characters.

What is the Bluesky character limit?

Bluesky allows 300 characters per post, counted in graphemes so a single emoji counts as one character. Alt text can run up to 2,000 characters.

What is the Threads character limit?

Threads allows 500 characters per post and per reply. You can attach a longer text attachment that extends a post to 10,000 characters. The Threads bio is limited to 150 characters.

What is the LinkedIn post character limit?

A LinkedIn post allows 3,000 characters, though only about 200 characters are visible before the "see more" link. The LinkedIn headline is limited to 220 characters and the About section to 2,600.

How long should a meta description be?

Aim for roughly 155 to 160 characters. Google truncates snippets by pixel width rather than a strict character count, so staying near that range avoids a cut-off description in search results.

How many characters fit in one text message?

A single SMS segment holds 160 characters in GSM-7 encoding. Messages using emoji or non-Latin characters switch to UCS-2 and drop to 70 characters per segment.