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Character Counter

This character counter shows how many characters are in your text, with and without spaces, and checks the total against the limits you actually write for. Characters are counted the way you see them, so an emoji or an accented letter counts as one. You also get letters, words, sentences, lines, spaces, digits, punctuation, emoji, UTF-8 bytes and an SMS count. Pick one of 15 limits, such as an X post, Instagram caption, meta description or Google Ads headline, or type your own. Text past the limit shows in red, and one click cuts it to fit. Social media managers and SEO writers use it daily. If a meta description keeps getting cut off, paste it and trim until you are under 160.

Always freeNo sign upRuns in your browser
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Characters
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No spaces
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Letters
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Words
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Sentences
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Lines
Spaces
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Digits
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Punctuation and symbols
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Emoji
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Paragraphs
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Reading time
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Speaking time
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UTF-16 code units: 0 · UTF-8 bytes: 0 · SMS: 0 / 160 (GSM-7)

280 characters left of 280.

X (Twitter) post0 / 280
Bluesky post0 / 300
Threads post0 / 500
Instagram caption0 / 2,200
LinkedIn post0 / 3,000
Facebook post0 / 63,206
YouTube title0 / 100
YouTube description0 / 5,000
TikTok caption0 / 4,000
Pinterest pin description0 / 500
Meta title (guide)0 / 60
Meta description (guide)0 / 160
Google Ads headline0 / 30
Google Ads description0 / 90
SMS (one GSM-7 message)0 / 160

How to use

01

Type or paste your text

Enter text in the Your text box, or press Open file for a .txt, .docx or .pdf. Characters, No spaces, Letters, Words, Sentences and Lines update on every keystroke, with spaces, digits, emoji, bytes and the SMS count underneath.

02

Choose a limit to check

Pick a platform in the Check against menu, or type a number in Custom limit. The tool tells you how many characters are left, or how many you are over.

03

Trim the overflow

When you go over, the part that would be cut off appears in a red box. Rewrite it, or press Cut text to the limit or Copy first N characters. The bars below compare your text with every platform at once.

Why Character Counter

Character limits by platform

These are the 15 limits built into the tool. Where a platform measures by pixel width or weights some characters, the number is a guide rather than a hard stop.

Platforms change their limits from time to time, and some accounts get higher ones, such as paid X accounts. If a post is rejected even though the bar is green, check the platform's current rules. For SEO fields, aim a few characters under the guide so the snippet is not cut mid-word.

Platform or fieldLimitNote
X (Twitter) post280Links count as 23; emoji and CJK characters count as 2
Bluesky post300Counted as visible characters
Threads post500
Instagram caption2,200Only the first lines show before more
LinkedIn post3,000
Facebook post63,206Long posts are folded behind See more
TikTok caption4,000
Pinterest pin description500
YouTube title100
YouTube description5,000
Meta titleAbout 60Google cuts by pixel width
Meta descriptionAbout 160Google cuts by pixel width
Google Ads headline30Responsive search ads
Google Ads description90Responsive search ads
SMS160 or 7070 when any Unicode character is present

Characters, letters and words compared

The same short text gives different numbers depending on what you count. Take Café 👍 ok! as an example.

Most social platforms and form fields limit characters. Essays and articles are measured in words. Byte limits matter when text is stored in a database or sent through an API.

MeasureResult for Café 👍 ok!Why
Characters10Every visible character, the emoji counts once
No spaces8The two spaces removed
Letters6C, a, f, é, o, k
Words2The emoji alone has no letters, so it is not a word
UTF-16 code units11The emoji needs two units
UTF-8 bytes14é takes 2 bytes and the emoji takes 4

Common questions

Do spaces count as characters in a character count?
Yes. Spaces, punctuation and line breaks are all characters, and most platform limits include them. The No spaces figure removes spaces, tabs and line breaks if a form or assignment asks for that number instead. Tick Ignore spaces at the start and end to skip stray spaces around your text, as most forms do.
How many characters is a tweet on X?
Standard accounts get 280 characters per post. X weights some characters differently: a link always counts as 23, and emoji and characters in Chinese, Japanese or Korean count as 2. This tool counts each visible character as 1, so treat the X bar as a close guide for plain text.
Do emojis count as one or two characters?
In this tool an emoji counts as one character, even combined ones such as a family emoji or a thumbs up with a skin tone. Some systems count differently: JavaScript and many form fields see 2 or more code units, which is why the UTF-16 figure is shown too. SMS messages switch to the 70 character Unicode format when an emoji is present.
What is the character limit for a meta description?
There is no fixed limit. Google cuts snippets by pixel width, and on desktop that usually lands around 155 to 160 characters. Keeping meta descriptions under 160 and meta titles under 60 is a safe working rule, which is what the two guide bars use.
How do I count characters in Word or Google Docs?
In Microsoft Word, open Review and then Word Count, which shows characters with and without spaces. In Google Docs, use Tools then Word count, or press Ctrl+Shift+C. Both count emoji differently from this tool, so small differences are normal.
What is the difference between characters and letters?
Characters include everything: letters, digits, spaces, punctuation and emoji. Letters counts only alphabetic characters from any script, so Café 2024! has 10 characters but 4 letters. Use Letters for puzzles or name fields that ignore digits and symbols.
Why does the SMS count change from 160 to 70 characters?
Plain SMS uses the GSM-7 character set, which fits 160 characters in one message. One character outside that set, such as an emoji or a curly quote, switches the whole message to Unicode, which fits 70. Longer messages are split into parts of 153 or 67 characters.
What does UTF-8 bytes mean in the character counter?
It is how much storage your text takes when saved as UTF-8, the encoding used by most websites and databases. English letters take 1 byte, accented letters 2, Hindi letters 3 and most emoji 4. Database columns and some APIs limit bytes, not characters.
Can I set my own character limit?
Yes. Type any number in Custom limit and it becomes the selected limit, with its own bar added to the list. Any text past that point shows in the red overflow box, and Cut text to the limit trims your text to exactly that length.

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