Character
Counter.
Count characters, words and lines as you type. See a live Google preview with real pixel widths, and check your text against X, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube and SMS limits.
Google cuts titles and descriptions by pixel width, not by characters. This preview uses Google’s desktop fonts.
What this character counter counts
A character is any single letter, number, space, punctuation mark or emoji. This counter shows the total with and without spaces, words, sentences, paragraphs and lines, and updates on every key press. Turn off Count spaces to check limits that ignore spaces.
- Characters count everything you typed, including spaces and line breaks. An emoji counts as one character here.
- Without spaces removes spaces, tabs and line breaks. Some forms and translation quotes use this number.
- Bytes show the size in UTF-8. Letters with accents and emojis use more than one byte, which matters for database fields and some APIs.
- Reading time uses about 238 words per minute; speaking time uses about 150.
Character limits for SEO and social media
| Where | Limit | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Google title | About 580 pixels (≈ 55–60 characters) | Cut by width, so wide letters like W and M use more room. |
| Meta description | About 920 pixels (≈ 150–160 characters) | Google often rewrites it if it doesn’t match the search. |
| URL slug | Under 75 characters | Short slugs are easier to read and share. |
| X (Twitter) post | 280 | Every link counts as 23, and most emojis count as 2. |
| Instagram caption | 2,200 | About 125 show before “more”. |
| LinkedIn post | 3,000 | About 210 show before “see more”. |
| YouTube title / description | 100 / 5,000 | About 70 title characters show in search. |
| TikTok caption | 4,000 | Only the first line or two show in the feed. |
| Pinterest title / description | 100 / 500 | The first 40 title characters matter most. |
| SMS | 160 (70 with emojis) | Longer texts are split into parts of 153 (or 67). |
Google explains how it builds title links in its title link guide. Treat the pixel limits as safe targets, not hard rules.
Tips for writing within a limit
- Put the important words first. If a title or snippet is cut, the start still shows.
- Cut filler words. “In order to” becomes “to”, “a number of” becomes “some”.
- Use numbers. “7” takes one character, “seven” takes five.
- Watch emojis in SMS. One emoji switches the whole message to the 70-character format.
Need to check a whole page, not just a line? Run a free SEO audit to see title and description length along with 30 other checks.
Built by Mubashir Safeer — an SEO who writes titles, descriptions and guest posts every day. More about me.
Character counter FAQ.
Do spaces count as characters?
Yes. Spaces, tabs and line breaks are characters, so they are included by default. Turn off “Count spaces” to see the number without them.
Why does X count my post differently?
X counts every link as 23 characters, whatever its real length, and counts most emojis and Chinese, Japanese or Korean characters as 2. The X row in Platform limits uses the same rules.
How many characters should a title tag have?
Aim for about 50–60 characters, or under about 580 pixels. Google cuts titles by pixel width, so the Google preview tab is more accurate than a character count.
How many characters fit in one SMS?
160 with plain letters and numbers. One emoji or special character switches the message to 70 characters. Longer messages are split into parts of 153 (or 67) characters.
Is my text saved anywhere?
No. Everything is counted in your browser. Your text is never sent to a server.
Need content
that ranks?
SEO articles and guest posts written by a person, researched and ready to publish.