Character Counter
Paste your text to see its length in characters, with and without spaces, plus letters, digits, spaces and unique characters. A bar of common limits — X, Instagram, meta descriptions, SMS — shows how many characters you have left or how far over you are. Free, no sign-up, and nothing is uploaded.
0
Characters (with spaces)
0
Characters (no spaces)
0
Unique Characters
0
Letters
0
Digits
0
Spaces
Common Character Limits
Twitter / X
280 remaining / 280
Instagram caption
2,200 remaining / 2,200
Meta description
160 remaining / 160
Common App essay
3,250 remaining / 3,250
LinkedIn headline
220 remaining / 220
SMS message
160 remaining / 160
How to Use the Character Counter
- Paste or type your text. The six counts update as you type.
- Pick the right total. Use characters with spaces for most limits (social posts, SMS, form fields) and characters without spaces only when a rule says so.
- Look at the limit cards. Each card shows how many characters remain, or how many you are over, against that limit.
- Trim and re-check. The top-20 frequency strip shows which characters you use most, which helps when one repeated symbol is eating your budget.
What Each Count Means
| Count | What it includes | Example: Hello, World! 2024 |
|---|---|---|
| Characters (with spaces) | Everything, including spaces, tabs and line breaks | 18 |
| Characters (no spaces) | Everything except spaces, tabs and line breaks | 16 |
| Letters | Letters in any alphabet, not marks that attach to a letter | 10 |
| Digits | Decimal digits in any script | 4 |
| Spaces | Characters with spaces minus characters without; a line break counts as one | 2 |
| Unique characters | Distinct characters, with H and h counted separately and the space counted | 13 |
The numbers in the right-hand column are exactly what the counter shows for that sample. The unique count is 13 because the 18 characters include repeats: the three l's, two o's, two spaces and two 2's each collapse to one.
Why Platforms Count Differently
This counter measures the length of the text as a string of UTF-16 code units. That is the same measure most websites use, but it is not always the same as the rule the platform applies. Three differences catch people out:
- Emoji. Most emoji are stored as two code units, so this counter adds 2 for each. "Hello, World! 😀" shows as 16 although it has 15 visible characters. X also weights each emoji as 2.
- Links and non-Latin scripts on X. X counts a standard post as up to 280 weighted characters. Every URL counts as 23 whatever its length, and Chinese, Japanese and Korean characters count as 2 each. A raw count will under- or over-state those posts.
- SMS encoding. A single text message holds 160 characters in the standard GSM-7 alphabet, but only 70 if any character falls outside it, such as an emoji or a curly quote. Longer messages are split into segments of 153 (or 67) characters.
The Limits on the Cards
The six cards compare your character count with fixed numbers. Treat them as working targets, not guarantees:
- X (Twitter): 280. Applies to standard posts; see the weighting above.
- Instagram caption: 2,200.
- LinkedIn headline: 220.
- Meta description: 160. Google sets no hard cap and cuts snippets by pixel width, so about 155 to 160 characters is a safe aim, not a rule.
- SMS message: 160. For plain GSM-7 text; see the encoding note.
- Common App essay: 3,250. This is an approximation of the 650-word maximum at about five characters a word. The application itself counts words, so check with the Word Counter.
Which Tool Do You Need?
| If the limit is set in… | Use |
|---|---|
| Characters | This page |
| Words, or you also want sentences and paragraphs | Word Counter |
| Words, but references and citations are excluded | Academic Word Counter |
| How often each letter appears | Letter Frequency Counter |
| Code points, bytes or invisible characters | Unicode Character Inspector |
Frequently Asked Questions
- What is the difference between characters with and without spaces?
- Characters with spaces counts every character, including spaces, tabs and line breaks. Characters without spaces leaves out all whitespace. Social platforms, SMS and most form fields count with spaces; a few assignment rules ask for the count without them, so read the instructions.
- Does a line break count as a character?
- Yes, as one character in the "with spaces" total. It is removed from the "no spaces" total, and this tool includes it in the Spaces figure because it is whitespace.
- How many characters is an emoji?
- This counter counts most emoji as 2, because that is how they are stored in text. X also weights an emoji as 2, while many other platforms count it as 1, so the right figure depends on where you will post.
- How many characters are in a tweet?
- A standard post on X can hold up to 280 weighted characters. Most Latin letters, digits and punctuation count as 1, every link counts as 23 and each CJK character or emoji counts as 2. The 280 card here uses the raw count, so use it as a close guide for plain-text posts.
- How long should a meta description be?
- There is no official limit. Google truncates a snippet when it runs out of width, which for most descriptions happens around 155 to 160 characters, and it may rewrite the snippet anyway. Put the important words early and aim to stay near 160 characters or fewer.
- What are unique characters?
- The number of different characters in your text. "Hello" has 5 characters but 4 unique ones, since the l repeats. Upper- and lower-case letters count separately, and the space counts as a character.
- Is my text uploaded or saved?
- No. The counts are calculated in your browser and the text is not sent anywhere.