Platform Character Limits

How to read this table

• Platform limit means a maximum that the platform enforces and states in its own documentation.
• Common guideline means an editorial rule of thumb. There is no enforced maximum, the number is not published by the platform, and going over it breaks nothing. The figures for search results are of this kind.
• Counting unit is the unit as the source expresses it. Most platforms say only “characters” without defining how an emoji or an accented letter is counted. Where that is the case, our counter uses visible characters and marks the result as approximate.
• Last verified is the date we last read the linked source and confirmed it still states the figure shown.

Every figure can be tested directly in the Character Counter by choosing it under “Check Against A Limit”.

Notes on each entry

Social and video

X (Twitter): Post, standard account (280 weighted characters, platform limit)

X uses weighted counting. Most Latin letters, digits and punctuation count as 1; emoji and Chinese, Japanese and Korean characters count as 2; every link counts as 23 whatever its length. Text is normalised to NFC first. X’s help pages say Premium subscribers can write longer posts of up to 25,000 characters.

In our counter: Counted with X’s published weighting. Link detection is approximate for addresses written without http://, https:// or www.

Source: X Developer Platform: Counting Characters

Instagram: Profile bio (150 characters, platform limit)

The Help Center states that a bio can be up to 150 characters.

In our counter: The platform says only “characters” and does not publish how emoji or accented letters are counted, so treat the result as a close estimate.

Source: Instagram Help Center: Add a bio to your Instagram profile

Instagram: Post caption (2,200 characters, platform limit)

The figure comes from Meta’s developer reference for captions; the consumer Help Center pages we checked do not state a caption length. Hashtag limits are documented inconsistently: the Help Center says up to 5 tags per post, while the developer reference lists 30.

In our counter: The platform says only “characters” and does not publish how emoji or accented letters are counted, so treat the result as a close estimate.

Source: Meta for Developers: IG User Media reference

LinkedIn: Post (3,000 characters, platform limit)

LinkedIn Help states the limit for a post and suggests writing an article for anything longer. LinkedIn’s help pages do not state limits for the profile headline or About section, so those are not listed here.

In our counter: The platform says only “characters” and does not publish how emoji or accented letters are counted, so treat the result as a close estimate.

Source: LinkedIn Help: Post and share updates

YouTube: Video title (100 characters, platform limit)

Stated in both the YouTube Data API reference and YouTube Help. Titles cannot contain the characters < and >.

In our counter: The platform says only “characters” and does not publish how emoji or accented letters are counted, so treat the result as a close estimate.

Source: YouTube Data API: videos resource (snippet.title)

YouTube: Video description (5,000 characters, platform limit)

YouTube’s two official sources use different units: YouTube Help says 5,000 characters, while the Data API reference says 5000 bytes. For plain English text the two are the same; text with emoji or non-Latin scripts uses more than one byte per character, so check the UTF-8 bytes figure in Advanced statistics as well.

In our counter: Counted as visible characters. YouTube’s API reference expresses this limit in bytes, so long descriptions with emoji or non-Latin text may hit the limit sooner.

Source: YouTube Help: Edit video settings

Advertising

Google Ads: Responsive search ad headline (30 characters, platform limit)

Google Ads counts every character in a double-width language such as Chinese, Japanese or Korean as 2 characters.

In our counter: Counted as visible characters. Google Ads counts double-width (Chinese, Japanese, Korean) characters as 2, which this counter does not do.

Source: Google Ads Help: About responsive search ads

Google Ads: Responsive search ad description (90 characters, platform limit)

Google Ads counts every character in a double-width language such as Chinese, Japanese or Korean as 2 characters. The same help page gives 15 characters for each display path field.

In our counter: Counted as visible characters. Google Ads counts double-width (Chinese, Japanese, Korean) characters as 2, which this counter does not do.

Source: Google Ads Help: About responsive search ads

Search results (guidelines)

Google Search: Page title (title link) (about 60 characters, common guideline)

There is no Google character limit for titles. Google’s documentation says there is no limit on the length of a title element and that title links are truncated as needed, typically to fit the device width. The figure here is a widely used editorial rule of thumb, not a number published by Google.

In our counter: An editorial guideline only. What is shown in results depends on the width of the text and the device, not on a fixed character count.

Source: Google Search Central: Influencing title links

Google Search: Meta description (snippet) (about 155 characters, common guideline)

There is no Google character limit for meta descriptions. Google’s documentation says there is no limit on length and that snippets are truncated as needed, typically to fit the device width. Google may also write its own snippet from the page. The figure here is a widely used editorial rule of thumb, not a number published by Google.

In our counter: An editorial guideline only. Snippet length varies by device and query, and Google may not use your description at all.

Source: Google Search Central: How to write meta descriptions

Applications

UCAS: Personal statement (2026 entry onwards) (4,000 characters including spaces, platform limit)

The 4,000 characters, spaces included, are shared across three separate questions, and each answer needs at least 350 characters. The form has its own counter, which is the one that decides.

In our counter: UCAS does not publish how it counts line breaks or special characters, so leave a small margin and confirm with the counter on the application form.

Source: UCAS: How to write your personal statement, 2026 entry onwards

Common App: Activities and experiences: activity details, honors won and accomplishments (150 characters, platform limit)

Applies to each of up to ten activities. Common App’s own worked example (256 characters cut to 141) only adds up with spaces included, so count spaces. Its 2026–27 update renamed the section “Activities and experiences” and left the limit unchanged.

In our counter: Common App does not publish how it counts emoji, accented letters or line breaks, so stay a few characters under and confirm with the counter in the application.

Source: Common App: Approaching the activities section (September 2026)

Common App: Activities and experiences: organization name (100 characters, platform limit)

Applies to each activity. Most organization names need far fewer than 100 characters, so a short factual descriptor fits when the name alone would mean nothing to a reader.

In our counter: Common App does not publish how it counts emoji, accented letters or line breaks, so stay a few characters under and confirm with the counter in the application.

Source: Common App: Approaching the activities section (September 2026)

Common App: Activities and experiences: position/leadership description (50 characters, platform limit)

Optional from the 2026–27 application onwards, according to Common App’s update for counselors, but the 50 characters are still available for each activity if you have a role to name.

In our counter: Common App does not publish how it counts emoji, accented letters or line breaks, so stay a few characters under and confirm with the counter in the application.

Source: Common App: Approaching the activities section (September 2026)

Why search results have guidelines, not limits

Google’s documentation for both title links and snippets says there is no limit on how long a title element or a meta description can be, and that what is displayed is truncated as needed, typically to fit the device width. It gives no character count. How much of a title fits therefore depends on the letters in it (a W is wider than an i), on the device, and on the query. Google may also choose different text altogether.

The figures in this table are the rules of thumb that editors and SEO tools commonly use to stay on the safe side. They are useful as a sanity check and should not be treated as a target or a guarantee. Two guides go into this: title length and meta description length.

What is not listed, and why

This page includes a limit only when an official or primary source states it. Several widely repeated figures fail that test. LinkedIn’s help pages, for example, do not state a maximum length for the profile headline or the About section, so those do not appear here even though numbers for them circulate widely.

Text messages are a separate case: SMS length depends on encoding and segments rather than a single number, so it has its own calculator and guide.

How these are kept current

All figures on this site, including the presets in the counter and any limit mentioned in a guide, come from one data file, so a correction made once appears everywhere. Entries are reviewed on a quarterly schedule against their linked sources, and the “last verified” date is updated only when the source has actually been re-read. If a source stops stating a figure, the entry is removed rather than left unconfirmed.

Platforms change limits without notice. If you spot a figure that is out of date, please let us know with a link to the platform’s current documentation.