Character Counter

Counts

Platform limits

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This character counter shows the length of any text as you type. You get the character count with spaces and without spaces, plus words, lines, letters and UTF-8 bytes. A platform limits table compares your text with common character limits, from SEO titles and meta descriptions to X posts, Instagram captions, LinkedIn posts, YouTube titles and SMS, and turns amber or red as you approach or pass each limit. Copy the text back out when it fits.

What a Character Counter Measures

A character counter tells you exactly how long a piece of text is, measured in characters rather than words. That matters because many platforms set a character limit, not a word limit. Write one word too many in an essay and nobody notices. Go one character over on an SMS, a title tag or an ad headline and your text gets cut or split.

This tool shows six text statistics in real time:

  • Characters: every character, including spaces, punctuation and line breaks
  • Without spaces: the same count with all whitespace removed
  • Words: the word count, for reference
  • Lines: the number of lines, counting each line break
  • Letters: only alphabetic characters, with no digits, spaces or symbols
  • UTF-8 bytes: the storage size of the text, which can be larger than the character count

Below the counts, the Platform limits table lists twelve common limits. For each, it shows the limit, how many characters you have used, a progress bar, and how far over you are if you exceed it. Bars turn amber above 90% and red once you pass the limit.

It is useful for SEO teams writing title tags and meta descriptions, social media managers, copywriters working on ads, and anyone filling in a form with a strict limit.

How Characters Are Counted

The counter treats each Unicode character as one character. Letters, digits, punctuation, symbols and spaces all count. That matches how most people and most platforms think about character count, but there are some edge cases, covered below. Counting happens live on every keystroke and paste, so you can edit until the text fits.

Spaces, punctuation and line breaks

Spaces count as characters. So do punctuation marks like commas, full stops, quotation marks and dashes. A line break counts as one character too, because it is a real character in the text.

That’s why “Characters” and “Without spaces” can differ quite a lot. The “Without spaces” figure removes every kind of whitespace, including tabs and line breaks.

Most platforms, including Google search snippets, X and SMS, count spaces. Some publishers, translators and academic forms use characters without spaces instead. Check which one your platform, client or teacher means before you trim your text.

Emoji and multi-byte Unicode characters

Emoji and characters from scripts like Arabic, Urdu, Hindi, Chinese and Japanese are counted as characters, but they need more storage. A plain English letter takes one byte in UTF-8; an Arabic letter takes two, and most emoji take four. The UTF-8 bytes stat shows this.

Some emoji are built from several characters joined together. A family emoji, a flag or an emoji with a skin tone can count as two or more characters here, even though it looks like one symbol. Platforms handle these differently, so leave some room when your text uses emoji.

How to Check Text Length in Three Steps

  1. Type or paste your text. Add a title, description, post, bio or message into the box. All counts update instantly.
  2. Check the counts and limits. Read the character count with and without spaces at the top. Then scan the Platform limits table for the platform you are writing for. A green bar means you are within the limit, amber means you are close (over 90%), and red means you are over, with the overage shown in brackets.
  3. Edit and copy. Trim or rewrite until it fits, then click “Copy text” to copy it back to your editor, CMS or social app. Use Clear to start over.

The tool runs 100% in your browser. Nothing you type is uploaded or saved.

Character Limits by Platform

The Platform limits table includes:

  • SEO title: 60
  • Meta description: 160
  • X (Twitter) post: 280
  • Instagram bio: 150
  • Instagram caption: 2,200
  • Facebook post (preview): 125
  • LinkedIn post: 3,000
  • LinkedIn headline: 220
  • TikTok caption: 2,200
  • YouTube title: 100
  • Google Business post: 1,500
  • SMS: 160

Some are hard limits; others, like the SEO title and Facebook preview, are display guides where text beyond the limit gets cut off rather than rejected. Platforms change their limits from time to time, so check the official help page for anything critical.

Meta descriptions and title tags

Title tags and meta descriptions aren’t rejected for being long, but Google truncates them in search results. The table uses 60 characters for an SEO title and 160 for a meta description as practical guides.

The real limit is pixel width, not characters (more on that below). A safe approach is to keep titles to about 50–60 characters and descriptions to about 120–160, with the most important words first so they survive any cut.

X posts, SMS and Instagram captions

X posts allow 280 characters on a standard account. X counts some characters with extra weight: emoji and many non-Latin characters count as two, and every link counts as a fixed length no matter how long the URL is. So your count in X can differ from the count here.

SMS messages hold 160 characters in the standard character set. Using emoji or non-Latin characters switches the message to a different encoding with a lower limit of 70 characters per segment, and longer texts are split into several messages.

Instagram captions allow up to 2,200 characters, but only the first line or two show before “more”, so lead with the key point.

Why Counts Differ Between Tools

Different tools can give different counts for the same text. The common reasons:

  • Spaces included or not. Some tools show only one of the two figures.
  • Line breaks. Some count them, some ignore them, and Windows line breaks use two characters.
  • Emoji and combined characters. Tools count code points, display symbols or storage units differently.
  • Hidden characters. Text copied from Word, PDFs or web pages can carry non-breaking spaces, zero-width spaces or soft hyphens.
  • Platform rules. X weights certain characters and links, and SMS changes encoding.

Microsoft Word and Google Docs also have their own rules for footnotes, text boxes and selected text. When a limit is strict, test in the platform itself before publishing.

Mistakes When Writing to a Limit

  • Cutting the meaning to fit. Removing the key benefit or call to action makes the text fit but stop working.
  • Writing right up to the limit. Leave a few characters of margin, especially with emoji, links or special characters.
  • Ignoring the visible part. On Instagram and Facebook, only the first part shows before “more”. Put the hook first.
  • Overusing abbreviations. Text-speak saves characters but can look unprofessional.
  • Forgetting the brand or URL. Adding them at the end can push you over.
  • Copying hidden formatting. Paste as plain text to avoid invisible characters.
  • Using one length everywhere. A 280-character post doesn’t belong in a 160-character SMS or a 125-character Facebook preview.

Characters Versus Pixel Width in Search

Google doesn’t cut title tags and meta descriptions at an exact character count. It cuts them when they fill the available pixel width. Wide letters like “W” and “M” take far more space than narrow ones like “i” and “l”, so two titles of the same length can display differently.

Use character counts as a quick guide while writing, then check the result in the SERP Snippet Preview, which measures your title and description in pixels and shows where Google would truncate them.

Private Counting in Your Browser

Everything you type stays on your device. The character counter runs entirely in your browser, with no uploads, no storage and no account needed. That makes it safe for unpublished copy, client work and private messages. Refreshing or closing the page clears the text.

Writing Tight Copy for Every Limit

Draft freely, then edit to the limit with the key message first. Check word totals with the Word Counter, test search display with the SERP Snippet Preview, review title and description lengths with the Meta Length Checker, and find more on the FHSEO Hub free SEO tools page.

Character Counter FAQs

Usually, yes. Most platforms, including Google, X and SMS, count spaces as characters. This tool shows both figures: the main Characters count includes spaces and line breaks, while “Without spaces” removes all whitespace. Check which one your platform, form or client means before trimming your text.

Aim for about 120 to 160 characters. Google trims descriptions by pixel width, so longer text gets cut off with an ellipsis. Put the main message and keyword in the first 120 characters so they show even if the snippet is shortened. Each page should have its own unique description.

Microsoft Word may count line breaks, footnotes, text boxes and special characters differently, and it shows separate counts with and without spaces. Hidden characters in copied text can also change totals. Small differences are normal. If a limit is strict, use the count from the platform where you will publish.

A standard X post allows 280 characters. X counts emoji and many non-Latin characters as two, and treats every link as a fixed length regardless of the URL, so totals can differ from a plain character count. Premium subscribers can post longer text, but only the start shows in the timeline.

Roughly 150 to 200 words in English, counting spaces. The exact number depends on word length: text full of short words gives more words, and technical writing with long words gives fewer. Paste your text into this counter to see the exact word and character count side by side.