Character Limits That Actually Matter: Twitter, LinkedIn, Meta Descriptions, and More

Every platform has character limits, and most people only find out when they've already written too much. Here's a reference guide to the limits that actually matter — and how to write efficiently within them.

Twitter / X

Type	Limit
Tweet	280 characters
Tweet with media	280 characters
Display name	50 characters
Bio	160 characters
Username (@handle)	15 characters

Practical notes:

• URLs count as 23 characters regardless of actual length (Twitter wraps all URLs in t.co links)
• Hashtags and @mentions count as regular characters
• Replies: the @mention you're replying to doesn't count toward your 280
• Twitter Blue users get longer tweets (4,000+ characters) but standard is still 280

Strategy: Write your point in under 230 characters to leave room for a URL and a hashtag. If you need more, use a thread.

LinkedIn

Type	Limit
Post	3,000 characters
Article	125,000 characters
Bio / Summary	2,600 characters
Job description	25,000 characters
Headline	220 characters
Comment	1,250 characters

Practical notes:

• LinkedIn posts expand with a "See more" link after about 210 characters. The hook before the cut-off is what drives click-through.
• The algorithm rewards engagement (comments > reactions > shares). Posts that prompt responses tend to be questions or strong opinions.

SEO meta tags

Tag	Recommended range	Hard limit
Page title	50–60 characters	~600px pixel width (roughly 60 chars)
Meta description	120–160 characters	~920px (roughly 155 chars)
URL slug	50–100 characters	No hard limit, but shorter ranks better

Why the pixel measure? Google truncates titles and descriptions based on rendered pixel width, not character count. A word full of wide characters (M, W) gets cut off sooner than one with narrow characters (i, l, t).

Rules of thumb:

• Title tag: Keep under 60 characters. Front-load the keyword.
• Meta description: 140–155 characters is the sweet spot. Include a call to action.
• Titles that get truncated show as "My Article Title Name Here…" — the ellipsis appears if you go over. Always preview in a SERP simulator before publishing.

HTML attributes

Attribute	Limit
alt text	No hard limit; under 125 characters recommended
title attribute	No hard limit; browsers truncate tooltip display
href (URL)	Up to ~2,048 characters for Internet Explorer; modern browsers allow more

Email subject lines

Platform	Displayed chars	Recommended
Gmail	~60 desktop, 30 mobile	Under 50
Apple Mail	~60	Under 50
Outlook	~70	Under 50

Practical advice: Write subject lines under 50 characters to display fully on mobile. The preview text (preheader) that follows in inbox view is typically the first 80–90 characters of email body text — write your first sentence with that in mind.

SMS and text messages

Type	Limit
Standard SMS	160 characters
Long SMS (multi-part)	Up to 1,600 characters (10 × 160 segments)
Unicode SMS	70 characters per segment (emoji or non-ASCII halves the per-segment limit)

The emoji trap: One emoji converts an SMS from ASCII to Unicode encoding, dropping the per-segment limit from 160 to 70. A marketing SMS with 3 emojis could silently split into 3 billable message segments.

Instagram

Type	Limit
Caption	2,200 characters
Bio	150 characters
Username	30 characters
Story text overlay	~150–200 characters (visual, not enforced)

Practical notes:

• Only the first 125 characters of a caption show before "More" — lead with the key message.
• Instagram hashtags count as characters. The 2,200 limit includes hashtags.
• Instagram bio: 150 characters is tight. Link-in-bio tools (Linktree etc.) expand this with a landing page.

YouTube

Type	Limit
Title	100 characters
Description	5,000 characters
Tags	500 characters total

Practical notes:

• YouTube truncates titles at ~70 characters in search results. Put the keyword early.
• The first 125 characters of the description appear as a snippet in search results and suggested videos.

Domain names

Element	Limit
Individual label (e.g., "example")	63 characters
Full domain	253 characters
TLD	63 characters

In practice, domain names longer than 20–30 characters are hard to type, share, and remember.

Keeping track in real time

When writing content that needs to stay within limits, a word and character counter that shows platform-specific limits is faster than counting manually. Paste your draft and see instantly whether it fits Twitter, a meta description, or an SMS segment.

---

A few things to remember across all platforms:

1. Test on mobile. Character limits that look fine on desktop often truncate on phone screens.
2. Front-load your message. When text is cut off, the first few sentences carry the full weight.
3. Whitespace counts. Spaces, line breaks, and tabs are all characters.
4. Emoji width varies. Emoji can take 1 or 2 characters depending on the emoji and the platform — complex emoji sequences (family emoji, flags) can take 5–10 code points.