Social Media Character Limits in 2026 — The Complete Guide
- X (Twitter) posts: 280 characters max
- Instagram captions: 2,200 characters (first 125 shown in feed)
- LinkedIn posts: 3,000 characters; articles: 120,000
- SMS: 160 characters per segment — longer messages split automatically
Table of Contents
Every platform has a character limit — and getting it wrong means truncated posts, cut-off messages, or split SMS segments that cost extra. X allows 280 characters per post. Instagram captions cap at 2,200 (with only the first 125 showing in the feed). LinkedIn posts run up to 3,000 characters. SMS segments are 160 characters each. Paste your draft into the free word and character counter below and know exactly where you stand before you publish.
X (Twitter): 280 Characters Per Post
X (formerly Twitter) allows 280 characters per post. URLs always count as 23 characters regardless of actual length, thanks to X's URL shortener. Media attachments (images, videos) do not count toward your character limit. @mentions and hashtags count normally.
The first 280-character limit doubled the original 140-character constraint in 2017. Today, X Premium subscribers can post much longer content — up to 25,000 characters — but standard free accounts remain capped at 280.
| Content Type | Character Impact |
|---|---|
| Plain text | Counts as written |
| URLs (any length) | Always 23 characters |
| Images / videos | 0 characters |
| @mention | Counts fully |
| Hashtag | Counts fully |
Practical tip: write your post first, then paste it into the character counter to verify. If you're over 280, trim at natural sentence breaks rather than cutting words mid-thought.
Instagram and Facebook: Long Captions, Short Attention Spans
Instagram allows captions up to 2,200 characters — about 350 words. However, Instagram's mobile feed shows only the first 125 characters before the "more" link. Your opening sentence does the real work. The full caption matters for search and hashtag visibility, but the hook must land in the first 125.
Facebook posts have no hard character limit for personal profiles and pages (up to 63,206 characters in theory), but engagement studies consistently show posts between 40 and 80 characters get the highest reach. For Facebook Ads, primary text is capped at 125 characters before truncation in most placements.
- Instagram caption max: 2,200 characters
- Instagram bio: 150 characters
- Instagram story text: ~220 characters visible
- Facebook ad primary text: 125 characters before "See More"
- Facebook ad headline: 27 characters before truncation
LinkedIn: Professional Posts With Generous Limits
LinkedIn allows 3,000 characters per post — about 450 words. Like Instagram, only the first 210 characters appear before the "see more" prompt on desktop (about 140 on mobile). Your first two sentences determine whether anyone keeps reading.
LinkedIn articles are separate from posts and allow up to 120,000 characters. Headline character limits: up to 70 characters for profile headlines, 220 characters for connection request notes, and 300 characters for post comments.
| LinkedIn Element | Character Limit |
|---|---|
| Post | 3,000 |
| Article | 120,000 |
| Profile headline | 70 |
| Connection request note | 300 |
| Comment | 1,250 |
| Message | 8,000 |
YouTube Titles and TikTok Captions
YouTube video titles cap at 100 characters but only the first 60-70 show in search results before truncation. Descriptions allow 5,000 characters, though only the first 150-160 are visible without clicking "Show more."
TikTok captions are 2,200 characters per video, matching Instagram. Captions display about 80-100 characters in the feed before truncation on mobile — even tighter than Instagram. TikTok profiles are limited to 80 characters in the bio.
- YouTube title: 100 characters max (70 before truncation)
- YouTube description: 5,000 characters
- TikTok caption: 2,200 characters
- TikTok bio: 80 characters
If you're writing YouTube descriptions or TikTok captions, paste the visible portion (first 150 characters for YouTube, first 100 for TikTok) separately to verify the hook reads well in isolation.
SMS Messages: The Hidden 160-Character Rule
SMS messages use GSM-7 encoding, which allows 160 characters per segment. Go over 160 and the message splits into two parts — each billed separately by carriers. At 161+ characters, the limit per segment actually drops to 153 characters because encoding overhead is added when messages are concatenated.
If your SMS contains any special characters outside GSM-7 (emoji, curly quotes, accented letters), encoding switches to UTF-16 and your limit drops to 70 characters per segment.
- Plain SMS (GSM-7): 160 characters for single, 153 per segment for multi
- SMS with emoji/special chars (UTF-16): 70 characters per segment
- Best practice: Keep marketing SMS under 160 plain characters
Paste your SMS copy into the character counter and aim to stay below 160. If you must go longer, try to keep it under 306 characters (2 plain segments) to control costs.
Email Subject Lines and Preheaders
Email clients show different amounts of your subject line depending on device and inbox. Gmail desktop shows about 60 characters. iPhone Mail shows 41 characters in portrait mode. Subject lines over 60 characters get truncated in most clients — write your most important words in the first 40-50 characters.
The preheader (the grey text after the subject line in an inbox) typically shows 40-140 characters depending on the client. Together with the subject, you have about 80-100 characters of visible preview to drive open rates.
| Email Element | Visible Characters |
|---|---|
| Subject line (Gmail desktop) | ~60 |
| Subject line (iPhone) | ~41 portrait |
| Preheader text | 40-140 depending on client |
Count Characters Before You Post
Paste your draft and instantly see character count, word count, and whether you're inside every platform's limit. 100% free, no signup.
Open Free Word CounterFrequently Asked Questions
Does X count spaces in the 280-character limit?
Yes, spaces count as characters in X posts. Every character — including spaces, punctuation, and line breaks — counts toward the 280 limit. URLs are the exception: they always count as 23 characters via X's link shortener.
Why does my SMS message split when I go over 160 characters?
SMS uses GSM-7 encoding with a 160-character limit per segment. Longer messages are split and each segment is delivered separately, which can cause out-of-order delivery and extra carrier costs. To avoid this, keep your SMS under 160 characters.
Does Instagram count emojis as characters?
Yes, emojis count as characters in Instagram captions. A single emoji typically counts as 1-2 characters. Given the 2,200-character cap, this is rarely a problem — but in tight spots like bios (150 characters), emoji usage adds up fast.
Is the LinkedIn 3,000-character limit per post or per paragraph?
Per post. LinkedIn allows up to 3,000 characters total across the entire post body. This is about 450-500 words. Articles on LinkedIn have a separate, much higher limit of 120,000 characters.
