PDFConvertersOnline.comHow to count characters
- Type or paste your text into the box.
- Read the character count, with and without spaces, and watch the limit bars fill.
- Trim until every bar you care about is green, then copy the text.
Characters, not words, are what many limits measure
A post on X, a search result title, a meta description, a text message, a product title on a marketplace, an app store subtitle, a bio field on a form: these limits are counted in characters. Word counts don't help when every character counts. This page shows the total with spaces and without, updates on every keystroke, and compares your text with a few well-known limits at once.
Limits shown live
| Limit | Length | How it's counted |
|---|---|---|
| X (Twitter) post | 280 | Weighted: links count as 23, and emoji and Chinese, Japanese or Korean characters count as 2 |
| Search result title | about 60 | Guideline; search engines cut titles by pixel width, not a fixed number |
| Meta description | about 160 | Guideline; snippets are also cut by width and may be rewritten |
| YouTube video title | 100 | Characters |
| One SMS | 160 or 70 | 160 for standard GSM characters, 70 once the message contains an emoji or other Unicode character |
The X count follows the platform's published counting rules for standard accounts, which is why a post full of emoji can hit the limit well before 280 visible characters. For search titles and descriptions, the numbers are rules of thumb: a title made of wide letters like W and M is cut sooner than one with narrow letters. Aim a little under the number to be safe.
Have a limit that isn't listed, like a 500-character application answer or a 150-character bio? Type it into Character limit and a bar tracks exactly that.
Why an SMS can suddenly cost more
Plain text messages use a 7-bit alphabet called GSM-7, which fits 160 characters into one SMS. A few symbols such as € [ ] { } and ~ take two slots each. A single character outside that alphabet, whether an emoji, a curly quote pasted from a word processor or a letter like ş, switches the whole message to Unicode encoding, and the limit drops to 70. Longer messages are split into parts of 153 (GSM-7) or 67 (Unicode) characters, because each part carries a small header. The counter shows which encoding your text needs and how many parts it will take, which is useful when you pay per message or send bulk notifications.
How characters are counted
An emoji like 👍🏽 is stored as two code points and four UTF-16 code units, so some counters report it as 2 or even 4 characters. Here, every visible symbol counts once: an emoji, an accented letter written with a combining mark, or a flag all count as 1 character. That matches what you see on screen and what most forms mean by a character. The X and SMS bars apply their own platform rules on top, as described above.
Spaces, line breaks and tabs count as characters in the main total. The without spaces figure removes all of them, which is what some translation agencies and publishers bill by. Your text is counted in the browser and never sent anywhere. For essays with a word limit, the Word Counter is the better fit.
More ways to use this tool
Frequently asked questions
Do spaces count as characters?
Yes, in the main count, along with line breaks. The second number shows the count without any spaces or line breaks.
Why does X say my post is too long when it's under 280 characters?
X counts emoji and Chinese, Japanese or Korean characters as 2, and every link as 23. The X bar on this page applies those rules.
How many characters fit in one text message?
160 characters using the standard GSM alphabet, or 70 if the message contains any emoji or special Unicode character. Longer messages are split into several parts.
Does an emoji count as one character?
Here it does, because it's one visible symbol. Some platforms count emoji as 2, and the X and SMS bars reflect that.
Is my text stored?
No. It's counted inside your browser, isn't uploaded and disappears when you close the tab.