Go one character over the SMS limit and your message splits in two. Write a meta description at 175 characters and Google cuts it with "..." — right before the part that would have made someone click. Character limits aren't arbitrary — each platform enforces them for a specific reason, and knowing them saves you from silent failures.
This guide covers every limit that matters for copywriters, SEO professionals, and marketers. Check your copy against any of these limits instantly using the character counter at wordscounter.io.
Character limits at a glance
| Platform / Format | Character limit | Truncation point | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Google meta description | 150–160 chars | ~120 chars on mobile | ~920px desktop, ~680px mobile |
| Google meta title | 50–60 chars | ~50 chars on mobile | Pixel-based, not char-based |
| Twitter/X (free) | 280 chars | — | URLs count as 23 chars |
| Twitter/X (Premium) | 25,000 chars | — | — |
| SMS | 160 chars per segment | 153 usable chars (>1 segment) | >160 = multi-part message |
| Instagram caption | 2,200 chars | 125 chars in feed | First 125 chars = your hook |
| Instagram bio | 150 chars | — | — |
| Google Ads headline | 30 chars | — | Per headline; 3 allowed |
| Google Ads description | 90 chars | — | Per description; 2 allowed |
| LinkedIn post | 3,000 chars | ~210 chars visible | "See more" hides the rest |
| Threads | 500 chars | — | — |
| Email subject line | 40–60 chars | ~30 chars on mobile | Optimal for open rates |
| TikTok caption | 4,000 chars | — | — |
Meta description character limit
The standard advice — keep meta descriptions under 160 characters — is correct but incomplete.
Google doesn't measure characters. It measures pixel width. On desktop, Google displays approximately 920 pixels of meta description text, which works out to roughly 155–160 characters in a typical font. On mobile, that shrinks to around 680 pixels — cutting your description off at approximately 120 characters.
That's a 35-character difference between desktop and mobile. If you write to the 160-character desktop limit, mobile users may never see your call to action.
One more thing: Google rewrites meta descriptions roughly 60–70% of the time — especially when the existing description doesn't match the searcher's query. This doesn't mean you should skip them. A well-written description signals to Google what the page is about and gets surfaced as-is when it matches closely.
Practical example:
❌ Too long for mobile: "Discover the complete guide to meta descriptions for SEO in 2026, including ideal length, best practices for Google, and how to write descriptions that actually improve your click-through rate."
(186 chars — truncated on both desktop and mobile)
✅ Optimized: "How to write meta descriptions that rank and get clicks — ideal length, best practices, and examples."
(101 chars — displays in full on both desktop and mobile)
Check your meta description length in real time with the character counter at wordscounter.io.
Open Word Counter →Twitter/X character limit
Free Twitter/X accounts are capped at 280 characters per post. X Premium users can write up to 25,000 characters — effectively removing the constraint entirely.
For most users writing public posts, 280 is the working limit. But the more useful number is 100.
Research consistently shows that tweets between 71–100 characters get 17% higher engagement than longer posts. Not because the algorithm rewards short content, but because short tweets tend to be cleaner, more direct, and easier to share. A 280-character tweet that meanders loses the reader long before the point.
One technical detail that catches people out: every URL counts as 23 characters, regardless of actual length. A 50-character URL and a 200-character URL both consume exactly 23 characters toward your limit. Twitter wraps all links in its own t.co shortener.
SMS character limit
SMS has a hard limit of 160 characters per message segment. Go over, and the message automatically splits into a multi-part message.
Here's the catch: when a message is split, each segment can only carry 153 usable characters (the remaining 7 bytes are used for a header that tells the recipient's phone how to reassemble the parts). So a 161-character message doesn't become a 160 + 1 message — it becomes two segments of up to 153 characters each.
Why this matters for marketing copy:
- Cost: Most SMS marketing platforms charge per segment. A 170-character campaign message costs twice what a 155-character message costs.
- Delivery: Some older handsets or carriers display multi-part messages incorrectly, showing them as two separate messages.
- Opt-out text: Every marketing SMS needs an opt-out instruction ("Reply STOP to unsubscribe") — typically 28–35 characters. Factor that in.
Instagram character limit
Instagram captions allow up to 2,200 characters — roughly 350–400 words. That's room for a short blog post.
But almost none of that text is visible by default.
Instagram truncates captions at approximately 125 characters in the feed, replacing the rest with a "more" link. On the Explore tab, even less text shows. The practical implication: the first 125 characters of your caption function as a headline. They determine whether someone taps "more" or keeps scrolling.
| Instagram element | Character limit |
|---|---|
| Caption (total) | 2,200 |
| Caption (visible in feed) | ~125 |
| Bio | 150 |
| Comments | 2,200 |
| Hashtags per post | 30 max |
Hashtags count toward your character limit. If you're adding 10 hashtags at roughly 10 characters each, that's 100 characters consumed before the post ends. Most practitioners put hashtags at the very end of the caption, after the main copy.
Other platforms worth knowing
Google Ads
- Headline: 30 characters (3 headlines shown per ad)
- Description: 90 characters (2 descriptions shown per ad)
- These limits are firm — the interface won't let you exceed them.
Posts allow 3,000 characters, but LinkedIn shows roughly 210 characters before collapsing the rest behind "see more." The first 210 characters do a lot of work.
Threads (Meta)
500 characters per post — more breathing room than Twitter/X, still concise enough to require focus.
Email subject lines
No hard limit, but most email clients display 40–60 characters before truncating. Mobile clients cut off at around 30 characters. Optimal subject lines land between 41–50 characters.
TikTok
4,000 characters for captions — a significant increase from the previous 2,200-character limit. Longer captions improve TikTok's ability to categorize your video for search.
Check any copy before you publish
Every limit listed above is a live check you can run before posting. Paste your meta description, tweet, SMS copy, or Instagram caption into wordscounter.io — character count updates with every keystroke, no button to press.
The character count shows total characters (including spaces) and characters without spaces — both formats are used by different platforms. For SMS, Twitter/X, and Instagram, the "with spaces" count is what matters.
Paste your meta description, tweet, SMS copy, or Instagram caption and get an instant character count — no button to press.
Open Word Counter →