Complete Guide to Social Media Character Limits in 2026 (Cheat Sheet for Creators)
Few things ruin an engaging post like having your punchline truncated midway or being blocked by a cryptic "text exceeds allowed length" error. Here is the definitive, up-to-date breakdown of character limits across all major social networks in 2026.
1. X (Formerly Twitter)
- Standard Post: 280 characters
- X Premium Users: Up to 25,000 characters
- Direct Messages: 10,000 characters
Pro Tip: The first 280 characters are what appear in search feeds and timeline previews regardless of account tier. Always front-load your core hook.
2. LinkedIn
- Post Caption: 3,000 characters
- "See More" Cutoff: ~140 to 210 characters (3 lines on desktop, 4 lines on mobile)
- Article / Newsletter: Up to 110,000 characters
Pro Tip: Craft your first two lines to compel the user to click "see more"—LinkedIn counts this action as a strong engagement signal that expands your algorithmic distribution.
3. Instagram
- Caption Limit: 2,200 characters
- Feed Truncation: First 125 characters before the "more" button
- Hashtag Limit: Maximum 30 hashtags (recommended 3–5 highly relevant tags)
4. TikTok
- Description Limit: 2,200 characters
5. YouTube Shorts & Videos
- Title: 100 characters
- Description: 5,000 characters
6. Facebook
- Post Update: 63,206 characters
Test Your Copy Live with our Free Tool
Don't guess how long your post is or whether it will fit all platforms. Use our interactive Free Social Media Character Counter to preview your character and word count in real time across all 6 networks.