TikTok Character Counter

TikTok Captions: Less Is Usually More

TikTok bumped the caption limit from 300 to 2,200 characters. Cool, I guess? But here's the thing - nobody goes to TikTok to read. The video is the content. Captions are just there to help with discovery and add a bit of context.

Most viral TikToks have captions under 150 characters. Some have nothing but hashtags. The sweet spot seems to be a quick hook + relevant hashtags. Don't overthink it.

What Actually Works

• Short. Seriously short. Let your video do the heavy lifting.
• Hashtags matter for getting on the FYP. 3-5 relevant ones, not 30 random ones.
• Put searchable keywords if you want to show up when people look for specific topics.
• Questions in captions drive comments. "What would you do?" type stuff.
• For accessibility, add context about what's happening if the audio matters.

How TikTok Counts Characters in Captions

Emojis are weird on TikTok. One little heart emoji? That's two characters. Some of the fancy compound emojis (like the family ones with different skin tones) can be five or even six characters. I learned this the hard way when my perfectly-crafted caption got cut off because I went emoji-crazy.

Hashtags eat up characters fast. #fyp is 4 characters. #foryoupage is 11. But here's the interesting part - while hashtags count against your character budget, TikTok's algorithm weighs them differently for visibility. You need them for discovery, but using too many makes you look spammy and actually hurts reach.

Special characters and spaces all count normally. Line breaks count as characters too, which is why some people don't bother spacing out their captions. And here's something most people don't know: the text overlays you add directly to your video? Those don't count toward your caption limit at all. Different system entirely. So if you're hitting the character wall, move some text onto the actual video.

TikTok Caption Strategies for More Views

The best captions I've seen start with a hook that makes you stop scrolling. Not clickbait, just genuine intrigue. Something like "I can't believe this actually worked" or "Nobody talks about this part" - statements that create a tiny bit of curiosity. Skip the "In this video I'm going to show you" formula. We can see what you're showing us.

Questions work insanely well for driving comments. Ask something people have opinions about. "Would you try this?" or "Am I the only one?" TikTok's algorithm loves engagement, and comments are gold. Even better if the question relates to something slightly controversial (but not actually offensive).

The trending hashtag approach is trickier than it seems. Yes, you want some trending tags for visibility. But if you only use #fyp and #viral, you're competing with millions of videos. Mix in some niche hashtags that actually describe your content. I get better results with one trending tag plus four specific ones than five trending tags.

Some huge creators barely write captions at all. Just hashtags or a single emoji. Why? Their content is so visually clear that captions would be redundant. If your video tells the whole story, don't force a caption. But most of us need captions for context and searchability. TikTok's search function actually reads your captions, not just hashtags, so descriptive words help you show up when people search for specific topics.

Frequently Asked Questions