Social Media Character Limits (2026) — Every Platform
Every character limit for X, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube, TikTok and 13 more platforms, with sources, plus a box that checks your text against all of them.
Last verified: 2026-10-18 — against each platform's own help, developer or ads-spec pages (linked in every row)
X (Twitter) character limits#
X counts weighted characters: most Latin, Greek and Cyrillic characters count 1; CJK characters and emoji count 2; every link counts 23 however long it is (it is wrapped in t.co).
| Field | Limit | Notes | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Post (free account)# | 280 weighted characters | Links count 23, emoji and CJK count 2. | X developer docs verified 2026-10-18 |
| Post (Premium)# | 25,000 weighted characters fold ≈ 280 (approx.) | Premium subscribers. The feed shows about the first 280 before “Show more” (not documented by X). Mentions after the first 280 characters do not notify. | X Help Center verified 2026-10-18 |
| Display name# | 50 characters | X Help Center verified 2026-10-18 | |
| Username (@handle)# | 15 characters | Letters, numbers and underscores only. | X Help Center verified 2026-10-18 |
| Bio# | 160 characters | X Help Center verified 2026-10-18 | |
| Image alt text# | 1,000 characters | X Help Center verified 2026-10-18 | |
| Ad: promoted post text# | 280 weighted characters | Same counting as a post; each link uses 23. | X Ads specs verified 2026-10-18 |
| Ad: website card headline# | 70 characters fold ≈ 50 | Two lines show; X says keeping it to 50 avoids truncation. Website carousel titles are also 70. | X Ads specs verified 2026-10-18 |
Instagram character limits#
| Field | Limit | Notes | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Caption (feed, Reels, carousel)# | 2,200 characters fold ≈ 125 (approx.) | The feed shows about 125 characters before “more” (not documented by Meta). | Meta developer docs verified 2026-10-18 |
| Hashtags per post# | 30 max | Counted in the caption; the paste box counts #tags in your text. | Meta developer docs verified 2026-10-18 |
| @mentions per post# | 20 max | Documented for the publishing API. | Meta developer docs verified 2026-10-18 |
| Image alt text# | 1,000 characters | Documented for the publishing API; the in-app limit is not published. | Meta developer docs verified 2026-10-18 |
| Bio# | 150 characters | Not official Not published by Instagram. | Sendible verified 2026-10-18 |
| Username# | 30 characters | Not official Letters, numbers, periods and underscores. | Bitly verified 2026-10-18 |
| Display name# | 30 characters | Not official Some lists say 64; we found no source for that. | Bitly verified 2026-10-18 |
Facebook character limits#
| Field | Limit | Notes | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Post# | 63,206 characters | Not official Set in 2011 and still what Facebook enforces, but no current Meta page states it. Long posts collapse behind “See more”; where depends on device and post. | TechRadar (2011) verified 2026-10-18 |
| Comment# | 8,000 characters | Not official | NapoleonCat verified 2026-10-18 |
Meta ads character limits#
Meta lists these as recommendations: longer text is accepted but cut off in the ad.
| Field | Limit | Notes | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Facebook Feed image ad: primary text# | 150 characters (recommended) | Meta now recommends 50–150 (older guides said 125). | Meta Ads Guide verified 2026-10-18 |
| Facebook Feed image ad: headline# | 27 characters (recommended) | Changed from 40 in older guides. | Meta Ads Guide verified 2026-10-18 |
| Instagram Feed image ad: primary text# | 125 characters (recommended) | Meta Ads Guide verified 2026-10-18 | |
| Instagram Feed image ad: headline# | 40 characters (recommended) | Meta Ads Guide verified 2026-10-18 | |
| Facebook Feed carousel: primary text# | 80 characters (recommended) | Meta Ads Guide verified 2026-10-18 | |
| Facebook Feed carousel: headline# | 20 characters (recommended) | Per card. | Meta Ads Guide verified 2026-10-18 |
| Facebook Feed carousel: description# | 18 characters (recommended) | Per card. Single image and video ads no longer list a description recommendation. | Meta Ads Guide verified 2026-10-18 |
LinkedIn character limits#
| Field | Limit | Notes | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Post (member or company page)# | 3,000 characters fold ≈ 200 (approx.) | About 140 characters show on mobile and 210 on desktop before “…see more” (not published by LinkedIn). | LinkedIn Help verified 2026-10-18 |
| Comment# | 1,250 characters | Not official | AuthoredUp verified 2026-10-18 |
| Profile headline# | 220 characters | Not official | Crazy Egg verified 2026-10-18 |
| Profile About section# | 2,600 characters | Not official Roughly the first 265–300 characters show before “see more”. | ContentIn verified 2026-10-18 |
LinkedIn ads character limits#
| Field | Limit | Notes | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Single image ad: introductory text# | 150 characters (recommended) fold ≈ 150 (approx.) | Longer text is cut with “see more”. The 600 hard maximum often quoted is not on LinkedIn’s page. | LinkedIn Ads Guide verified 2026-10-18 |
| Single image ad: headline# | 70 characters (recommended) | The 200 hard maximum often quoted is not on LinkedIn’s page. | LinkedIn Ads Guide verified 2026-10-18 |
| Single image ad: description# | 70 characters (recommended) | Used only on the LinkedIn Audience Network (older specs said 100). | LinkedIn Ads Guide verified 2026-10-18 |
YouTube character limits#
YouTube Shorts use the same title and description fields as regular videos. Angle brackets (< >) are not allowed in titles or descriptions.
| Field | Limit | Notes | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Video title (also Shorts)# | 100 characters fold ≈ 70 (approx.) | Search results usually show about 60–70 characters. | YouTube Help verified 2026-10-18 |
| Video description# | 5,000 characters fold ≈ 150 (approx.) | About the first 100–150 characters show before “…more”. The API measures 5,000 bytes, so emoji and non-Latin text use more of it. | YouTube Help verified 2026-10-18 |
| Tags (all combined)# | 500 characters | Commas between tags count, and a tag containing a space is counted with quotation marks around it. | YouTube Data API verified 2026-10-18 |
| Handle (@name)# | 30 characters | 3–30 characters. Shorter maximums for some scripts (Han and Hangul 1–10). | YouTube Help verified 2026-10-18 |
| Comment# | 10,000 characters | Not official | Influencer Marketing Hub verified 2026-10-18 |
TikTok character limits#
| Field | Limit | Notes | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Caption (in the app)# | 4,000 characters | Not official Raised from 2,200 in the app; TikTok has not published the number. How much shows before “more” varies. | OnlineMarketing.de verified 2026-10-18 |
| Video caption via API / schedulers# | 2,200 UTF-16 units | Scheduling tools that post through the API are held to this. An emoji uses 2 units. | TikTok developer docs verified 2026-10-18 |
| Photo post title via API# | 90 UTF-16 units | Photo post descriptions via API: 4,000. | TikTok developer docs verified 2026-10-18 |
| Bio# | 80 characters | Not official | Replug verified 2026-10-18 |
| Username# | 24 characters | Not official Some references say 30. | Virlo verified 2026-10-18 |
| Display name (nickname)# | 30 characters | Not official | Virlo verified 2026-10-18 |
Pinterest character limits#
| Field | Limit | Notes | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pin title# | 100 characters | Pinterest Help verified 2026-10-18 | |
| Pin description# | 800 characters | Not 500, as older lists say. Descriptions are not shown in the home or search feed at all. | Pinterest Help verified 2026-10-18 |
| Pin alt text# | 500 characters | Pinterest API spec verified 2026-10-18 | |
| Text on the Pin image# | 250 characters | Pinterest Help verified 2026-10-18 | |
| Board name# | 50 characters | Not official | WordCounterTool verified 2026-10-18 |
Threads character limits#
| Field | Limit | Notes | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Post# | 500 characters | Longer text can go in a text attachment. | Threads developer docs verified 2026-10-18 |
| Text attachment# | 10,000 characters | Added September 2025. | Meta newsroom verified 2026-10-18 |
| Links per post# | 5 max | Threads developer docs verified 2026-10-18 | |
| Topic tag# | 50 characters | One topic per post. | Threads developer docs verified 2026-10-18 |
| Bio# | 150 characters | Not official | Sendcove verified 2026-10-18 |
Bluesky character limits#
Bluesky counts graphemes (what a reader sees as one character), so an emoji counts 1. Posts are also capped at 3,000 bytes.
| Field | Limit | Notes | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Post# | 300 graphemes | Also at most 3,000 bytes. | Bluesky lexicon verified 2026-10-18 |
| Display name# | 64 graphemes | Bluesky lexicon verified 2026-10-18 | |
| Bio (description)# | 256 graphemes | Bluesky lexicon verified 2026-10-18 |
Mastodon character limits#
Defaults on a standard server; each server can change them. Every link counts 23, a mention of another server’s user (@name@server) counts only @name, and a content warning counts toward the 500.
| Field | Limit | Notes | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Post (default server)# | 500 characters | Links count 23. Many servers raise the limit. | Mastodon docs verified 2026-10-18 |
| Display name# | 30 characters | Mastodon docs verified 2026-10-18 | |
| Bio# | 500 characters | Plus 4 profile metadata fields. | Mastodon docs verified 2026-10-18 |
| Media alt text# | 1,500 characters | Server-configurable. | Mastodon docs verified 2026-10-18 |
Snapchat ads character limits#
| Field | Limit | Notes | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brand name# | 25 characters | The Marketing API accepts 32. | Snapchat for Business verified 2026-10-18 |
| Headline# | 34 characters | Snap suggests 25–28; no emoji. | Snapchat for Business verified 2026-10-18 |
Reddit character limits#
Google Business Profile character limits#
| Field | Limit | Notes | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Post (update, offer or event text)# | 1,500 characters | Not official Google’s current help pages do not state the number; the form enforces it. Search shows only the start of the post. | Search Engine Journal verified 2026-10-18 |
Google Ads character limits#
In double-width languages (Chinese, Japanese, Korean) each character counts 2.
| Field | Limit | Notes | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Responsive search ad: headline# | 30 characters | 3 to 15 headlines per ad. | Google Ads Help verified 2026-10-18 |
| Responsive search ad: description# | 90 characters | 2 to 4 descriptions per ad. | Google Ads Help verified 2026-10-18 |
| Display URL path (each of 2)# | 15 characters | Google Ads Help verified 2026-10-18 | |
| Sitelink text# | 25 characters | Google Ads Help verified 2026-10-18 | |
| Sitelink description (each of 2 lines)# | 35 characters | Callout text: 25. | Google Ads API verified 2026-10-18 |
Discord character limits#
| Field | Limit | Notes | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Message# | 2,000 characters | Nitro subscribers can send 4,000 (not in the developer docs). | Discord developer docs verified 2026-10-18 |
Telegram character limits#
| Field | Limit | Notes | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Message# | 4,096 characters | Media captions: 1,024. | Telegram Bot API verified 2026-10-18 |
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Social media character limits differ by platform and by field: an Instagram caption can be 2,200 characters but the feed shows about 125, an X post is 280 weighted characters where every link counts 23, and a YouTube title is 100 characters with roughly 70 visible in search. This page lists the limit for every field that matters on 18 platforms, from posts and bios to alt text and ad headlines, each with a link to the platform page it comes from and the date we checked it.
Many numbers repeated across the web are not published anywhere official. Facebook's 63,206, TikTok's 4,000-character caption and every “see more” cut-off are examples, so those rows are marked Not official with the best current source. Paste a draft into the box at the top and every row shows whether it fits, fits but gets cut at the fold, or is over, counted the way that platform counts. Limits change often (Pinterest descriptions went to 800, Meta's headline advice dropped to 27), so check the verified date.
How to use
- Paste or type your post into the box. The counts update as you type and each row shows Fits, Fits but cut at the fold, or Over.
- Tick “Show only fields my text is over” to see at a glance where it needs trimming.
- Pick a platform or search for a field (bio, alt text, headline) to narrow the tables.
- Open the source link in any row to see the platform's own wording, and use the # link to share a row.
- Print or save as PDF for a one-page reference.
Frequently asked questions
What is the Instagram caption character limit?
2,200 characters, with up to 30 hashtags and 20 @mentions, per Meta's developer documentation. Only about the first 125 characters show in the feed before “more”, so put the hook and any call to action at the start. The bio is 150 characters.
What is the character limit on X (Twitter)?
280 for free accounts and 25,000 for Premium subscribers. X counts weighted characters: most Latin letters count 1, while emoji and Chinese, Japanese or Korean characters count 2, and every link counts 23 no matter its length. Long Premium posts show about the first 280 characters in the timeline with “Show more”.
What is the LinkedIn post character limit?
3,000 characters for posts from members and company pages. LinkedIn does not publish where “…see more” cuts in; it is roughly 140 characters on mobile and 210 on desktop, so the first two lines need to stand on their own. Comments are 1,250 characters and profile headlines 220.
What is the YouTube title character limit?
100 characters, for regular videos and Shorts alike, and titles cannot contain < or >. Search results usually show around 60–70 characters, so put the main keyword first. Descriptions can be 5,000 characters, but the API counts that in bytes, so emoji and non-Latin scripts use more of the allowance.
What is the TikTok caption limit?
In the TikTok app, captions can be 4,000 characters, though TikTok has not published this number. Scheduling tools that post through TikTok's Content Posting API are held to 2,200, counted in UTF-16 units, in which an emoji uses 2. If you schedule posts, write to 2,200.
Do emoji count as one character or two?
It depends on the platform. X counts every emoji as 2. Bluesky and Mastodon count graphemes, so an emoji, even a family or flag emoji built from several code points, counts 1. APIs that count UTF-16 units (TikTok) count most emoji as 2, and byte-based limits (Bluesky's 3,000-byte cap, the YouTube API's description limit) count an emoji as 4 bytes or more.
How each platform counts characters
• X: weighted length. Code points in Latin, Greek, Cyrillic and some other ranges weigh 1; everything else, including CJK and emoji, weighs 2; each URL is replaced by a 23-character t.co link.
• Mastodon: grapheme clusters, every http(s) link counts 23, and a mention of a user on another server (@name@server.social) counts only @name. The content warning text counts toward the same 500.
• Bluesky: 300 graphemes and, separately, 3,000 bytes; ordinary text hits the grapheme limit first.
• TikTok API and Telegram: units of UTF-16, the way JavaScript's string length counts. Most emoji take 2.
• Most others (Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube, Pinterest, Google Ads) count characters as you see them in their editors. Google Ads counts double-width characters (Chinese, Japanese, Korean) as 2.
The paste box applies these rules per row, which is why the X count for the same text is usually higher than the plain character count.
Limits that changed recently
• Pinterest Pin descriptions allow 800 characters, not 500, according to Pinterest's Pin specs and API. They are not shown in the home or search feed.
• Meta's Ads Guide now recommends 50–150 characters of primary text and a 27-character headline for Facebook Feed image ads (older versions said 125 and 40). Instagram Feed ads still list 125 and 40.
• LinkedIn's single-image ad description recommendation is 70 characters and applies only to the LinkedIn Audience Network (older specs said 100).
• Threads added text attachments of up to 10,000 characters in September 2025 and limits posts to 5 links.
• X Premium allows 25,000 characters; X's iOS and Android help steps still mention an older 4,000 figure.
Writing for the fold, not the limit
The hard limit rarely matters; the fold does. On Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook and YouTube the feed shows one or two lines and hides the rest behind “more”, and most readers never tap it. Put the point of the post in the first 125 characters on Instagram, the first 140 on LinkedIn mobile, and the first 100 of a YouTube description.
Folds are set in pixels and lines, not characters, so they move with screen size, font and line breaks. A blank line early in a LinkedIn post can push “see more” up. Treat the fold numbers here as approximate and preview the post before publishing.
Related free tools
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- UTM Link Builder — Build clean, consistent UTM tracking links so you know exactly which campaigns bring you customers.
- Google Search Operators — Every Google search operator marked Works, Unreliable or Retired, with the evidence, SEO recipes and a query builder.
- SERP Snippet Preview — Preview how your page title and meta description will look in Google — with live character-count checks.