Social Media Character Limits 2026: Complete Platform Guide

I manage content across a lot of platforms, and keeping track of all the different character limits used to drive me crazy. Twitter has one limit, LinkedIn has another, Instagram's is different again, and they all seem to change every few months.

So I put together this master reference. It's the guide I wish I had when I started. Bookmark it, and you'll always know exactly how much space you have to work with.

Quick Reference Table

Here's everything at a glance. I keep this bookmarked:

Twitter / X Character Limits

Twitter's 280-character limit is iconic at this point. Love it or hate it, it forces you to be concise. Here's the full breakdown:

• Standard posts: 280 characters
• Premium posts: Up to 25,000 characters (essentially long-form)
• Bio: 160 characters
• Display name: 50 characters
• Username: 15 characters
• Direct messages: 10,000 characters
• Quote tweets: 280 characters (on top of the quoted post)

Something I learned the hard way: URLs always count as 23 characters regardless of actual length. Twitter shortens them automatically with t.co, so don't stress about long links.

LinkedIn Character Limits

LinkedIn gives you more room to breathe. Perfect for professional content that needs context:

• Post: 3,000 characters
• Article: ~125,000 characters (basically unlimited)
• Headline: 220 characters
• Summary/About: 2,600 characters
• Comment: 1,250 characters
• Company page description: 2,000 characters
• Message: 8,000 characters

Here's the catch: Only about 210 characters show before the "see more" link. Front-load your hook or people won't click to read the rest.

Instagram Character Limits

Instagram is visual-first, but captions matter more than people think:

• Caption: 2,200 characters
• Bio: 150 characters
• Username: 30 characters
• Comment: 2,200 characters
• Hashtags: Maximum 30 per post
• Story text: No official limit, but screen space is your constraint
• Reel caption: 2,200 characters

Critical to know: Only 125 characters show in the feed before "more". Your opening line needs to grab attention immediately.

Facebook Character Limits

Facebook has the most generous limits of any major platform:

• Post: 63,206 characters (yes, really)
• Bio (intro): 101 characters
• Comment: 8,000 characters
• Page description: 255 characters
• Ad primary text: 125 characters recommended
• Ad headline: 40 characters
• Event description: 8,000 characters

The reality: Posts get truncated around 477 characters on desktop and 125 on mobile. Just because you can write 63,000 characters doesn't mean you should.

TikTok Character Limits

TikTok expanded its caption limit significantly. Here's where things stand:

• Caption: 4,000 characters
• Bio: 80 characters
• Username: 24 characters
• Comment: 150 characters
• Direct message: 1,000 characters

My experience: Despite 4,000 characters being available, shorter captions (under 150) tend to perform better. The video does the heavy lifting on TikTok.

YouTube Character Limits

YouTube has different limits for different content types:

• Video title: 100 characters
• Video description: 5,000 characters
• Comment: 10,000 characters
• Channel description: 1,000 characters
• Playlist title: 100 characters
• Playlist description: 5,000 characters
• Community post: 1,000 characters

SEO tip: The first 150-200 characters of your description show in search results. Pack your keywords there.

Pinterest Character Limits

Pinterest keeps things relatively simple:

• Pin description: 500 characters
• Pin title: 100 characters
• Board description: 500 characters
• Board title: 50 characters
• Profile bio: 160 characters
• Username: 30 characters

Pinterest is search-heavy: Use keywords naturally in the first 50-60 characters since Pinterest functions like a visual search engine.

Threads Character Limits

Meta's Twitter competitor keeps it tight:

• Post: 500 characters
• Bio: 150 characters
• Reply: 500 characters
• Links: Count toward the limit

Note: Threads is integrated with Instagram, so your bio carries over. Keep your branding consistent across both.

Tips for Staying Within Limits

After years of managing content across platforms, here's what actually helps:

1. Use a character counter: This is why I built TypeCount. Real-time tracking prevents nasty surprises.
2. Front-load your message: The most important stuff goes first. Assume truncation is coming.
3. Use line breaks strategically: White space makes content scannable, especially on mobile.
4. Consider link shorteners: Or use platform-native link features when available.
5. Move hashtags to comments: On Instagram especially, this gives you more caption real estate.
6. Edit aggressively: Every word should earn its place. Cut the fluff.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the Twitter/X character limit in 2026?

280 characters for free users, up to 25,000 for Premium subscribers. The 280 limit forces concise writing, which honestly improves most content. Premium's extended limit is useful for threads you want to post as single posts.

What is the LinkedIn post character limit?

3,000 characters for posts. For longer content, LinkedIn articles go up to about 125,000 characters. Most of my best-performing LinkedIn posts are between 800-1,500 characters — long enough to provide value, short enough to be read.

How long can an Instagram caption be?

2,200 characters, but only 125 show in the feed. That first line is everything. You can also use up to 30 hashtags, which I recommend putting in a comment rather than the caption itself.

What is the TikTok caption character limit?

4,000 characters now, up from 2,200. But here's my honest take: shorter captions work better on TikTok. The video content matters more. Use the caption for hashtags, a quick hook, and maybe a call to action.

Which social platform has the highest character limit?

Facebook at 63,206 characters per post. That's longer than many short novels. In practice, no one uses this. Optimal Facebook post length is around 40-80 characters for engagement. Go figure.

Do URLs count toward character limits?

Depends on the platform. Twitter/X counts all URLs as 23 characters thanks to their t.co shortener. Other platforms usually count the full URL length. When in doubt, use a character counter to check.