Character Limits for Twitter, Instagram, YouTube & Every Social Platform (2026)

Twitter gives you 280 characters. Instagram captions cut off at 125 in the feed. YouTube truncates titles at 60. Every social platform has different limits — and most truncate your content well before the maximum. Here is the complete reference for 2026.

Complete Character Limits — Every Major Platform

Platform	Content Type	Maximum	Visible Before Truncation
Twitter/X	Tweet (free)	280 characters	280 (full display)
Twitter/X	Tweet (Premium)	25,000 characters	280 (rest behind "Show more")
Twitter/X	Bio	160 characters	160 (full display)
Twitter/X	Display name	50 characters	50
Instagram	Caption	2,200 characters	~125 (then "... more")
Instagram	Bio	150 characters	150 (full display)
Instagram	Hashtags	30 per post	All visible if not truncated
Instagram	Reel caption	2,200 characters	~55 (then "... more")
YouTube	Video title	100 characters	~60-70 in search
YouTube	Description	5,000 characters	~150 before "Show more"
YouTube	Comment	10,000 characters	Full display
LinkedIn	Post	3,000 characters	~140 (then "see more")
LinkedIn	Article	~125,000 characters	Full display
LinkedIn	Headline	220 characters	~70 on profile card
TikTok	Caption	2,200 characters	~75-100 (then "more")
Facebook	Post	63,206 characters	~400 (then "See more")
Facebook	Ad primary text	125 characters (recommended)	125 (rest truncated)
Threads	Post	500 characters	500 (full display)
Pinterest	Pin description	500 characters	~75-100 in feed
Pinterest	Pin title	100 characters	~30-40 in feed
Google Business	Post	1,500 characters	~75-100 in preview
SMS	Message	160 characters	160 (splits into multi-part if over)

Why Truncation Matters More Than Maximum

Most people will see only the truncated preview of your content. The "maximum" is how much you can write. The "visible" number is how much people will see without clicking "more."

• Instagram: Your caption can be 2,200 characters, but only ~125 show in feed. If your call-to-action is at character 500, most followers will never see it.
• LinkedIn: You get 3,000 characters, but only ~140 show before "see more." Your hook — the reason someone clicks — must land in those 140 characters.
• YouTube: 100-character titles get cut to ~60-70 in search results. Your keyword and value proposition need to be in the first 60 characters.

Write for the truncation point, not the maximum. Front-load your message.

Character Count Workflow for Social Media

1. Draft your post or caption
2. Paste into Character Counter — check the "characters with spaces" number
3. Compare against the platform limit (see table above)
4. More importantly, compare against the truncation point — is your key message visible in the preview?
5. If over the truncation point, move your hook to the first line

Platform-Specific Tips

• Twitter/X: URLs always count as 23 characters (t.co shortening). Emojis count as 2 characters. Mentions (@username) count against your limit.
• Instagram: Hashtags count toward the 2,200 limit. Some creators put hashtags in the first comment instead to keep captions clean.
• YouTube: Pipe characters (|) and dashes in titles help readability. Keep the primary keyword before character 60.
• LinkedIn: Line breaks create visual space and improve readability. Short lines with breaks perform better than walls of text.
• Facebook Ads: The recommended 125-character primary text is not a hard limit, but Meta truncates longer text. Stay under 125 for full visibility in all placements.

Related Tools

• Word & Character Counter — check character count before posting
• Meta Tag Generator — SEO titles and descriptions with character limits
• Case Converter — fix capitalization for headlines and titles