Character Counter
Count characters with and without spaces, plus letters, numbers, punctuation and lines. See at a glance whether your text fits common limits.
What does the Character Counter do?
The Character Counter counts every character in your text as you type. It shows the total with and without spaces, and breaks the total down into letters, numbers, spaces, punctuation and symbols. The Character limits panel compares your text with common limits, such as a post on X or a meta description, and you can add your own limit.
How to use it
- Type, paste or open a file in the text box.
- Read the totals at the top: characters, characters without spaces, words and lines.
- Check the Breakdown panel for letters, numbers, spaces, punctuation and symbols.
- Enter a number in Custom limit to see how close you are to your own target. A bar turns amber at 90% and red when you go over.
How characters are counted
- Characters counts everything you can see plus spaces and line breaks. Each emoji or accented letter counts as one character, even when it is stored as several code points.
- No spaces removes spaces, tabs and line breaks before counting.
- Letters includes letters from any alphabet, such as é, ж or 字.
- Punctuation covers marks such as . , ! ? ; : – ( ) and quotation marks. Symbols covers characters such as $, +, =, © and emoji.
- Size (UTF-8 bytes) shows how much storage the text uses. Plain English letters use 1 byte each; accented letters and emoji use 2 to 4 bytes.
Example
The text Hi there! 👋 has 11 characters: 7 letters, 2 spaces, 1 punctuation mark and 1 emoji. Without spaces it has 9 characters.
Common character limits
Limits change over time and can depend on your account or settings, so treat this table as a guide and check the platform if the exact number matters.
| Where | Limit | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Post on X (Twitter) | 280 characters | Standard accounts; some characters, such as emoji and links, can count differently |
| SMS text message | 160 characters | One message part using standard characters; emoji or special characters reduce this to 70 |
| Search result title | About 60 characters | Search engines cut titles by display width, not by an exact count |
| Meta description | About 150–160 characters | Longer descriptions are usually shortened in search results |
| Instagram caption | 2,200 characters | |
| YouTube video title | 100 characters | |
| LinkedIn post | 3,000 characters |
Characters vs. words
Character count measures length precisely, which is why short-form platforms use it. Essays and articles usually set word limits instead. You can check both on our Word Counter.
Frequently asked questions
Does the character count include spaces?
The main “Characters” total includes spaces and line breaks. “No spaces” shows the total without them.
How are emoji counted?
Each emoji counts as one character, the way you see it. Some platforms count emoji as two characters, so leave a little room if you are close to a limit.
Does it count line breaks?
Yes. Line breaks count as characters in the main total and are counted under “Spaces and line breaks”. The “Lines” total shows how many lines your text has.
Is my text saved?
No. The text is processed in your browser and is never uploaded or stored.