Character counter
Paste your text to count characters instantly and check it against popular limits.
Platform limits
How characters are counted
Every letter, number, space, punctuation mark and line break counts as one character. Emoji are counted as one character each here, although some platforms count certain emoji as two, so leave a little room if you're close to a limit.
The bytes figure shows how much storage the text takes in UTF-8, the encoding most websites and databases use. Plain English letters take one byte each, while accented letters and emoji take two to four. It matters for SMS messages, database fields and some form limits.
Why limits matter
Posts that run over a limit get cut off or rejected, and search results truncate long titles and descriptions. Writing to the limit keeps your message intact and your key words visible.
Questions people ask
Do spaces count as characters?
Yes. Spaces, line breaks and punctuation all count toward character limits on X, Instagram and most other platforms. The no-spaces count is shown separately for jobs that ask for it.
What is the character limit on X?
Standard posts on X are limited to 280 characters.
How long can an Instagram caption be?
Instagram captions can be up to 2,200 characters, but only the first line or two show before the more link.
How long should a YouTube title be?
YouTube allows up to 100 characters, but titles under about 60 characters are less likely to be cut off in search and suggested videos.
Is my text saved?
No. Counting happens in your browser and nothing is uploaded.