Social Media Character Limits 2026: Every Platform in One Table

Social media character limits in 2026 run from 150 characters for an Instagram bio up to 25,000 for an X Premium post, and every platform cuts your text off at a shorter, separate point before that ceiling. This guide lists every limit I could verify against each platform's own help pages, plus exactly where the "see more" cut happens, so you write for the part people actually read.

I check character limits constantly for client accounts, since a caption truncated one line early or a bio Instagram silently rejects costs a small business real visibility. I run 11 free tools on this site, including a word and character counter I use myself before publishing anything client facing, so this list comes from checking each number against the platform's own help page rather than repeating whatever the last blog post said. Below is the master table, then the detail platform by platform, the truncation points that actually decide what people read, and a short process for checking your own draft before you hit publish.

The master table: social media character limits by platform (September 2026)

Every number below is checked against the platform's own help centre where one exists, and marked clearly where it does not, at the time of writing in September 2026. Platforms change these limits without announcing it, sometimes just for a subset of accounts during a rollout, so treat this table as a strong starting point and confirm in the composer itself before you plan a campaign around an exact count.

Two tables cover the ground the brief for this guide asks for. The first is the number that actually stops you from typing further, and where the feed hides the rest behind a "more" link. The second covers bio, username and hashtag limits, which matter more for profile setup than for any single post.

Instagram character limits: caption, bio, username and hashtags

An Instagram caption can run to 2,200 characters, but the feed only shows around the first 125 before cutting it off behind "more," so your first two lines are doing almost all the work. I cover the full mechanics of writing to that cut in my guide to writing Instagram captions, including which formula to use for the opening line depending on what you are trying to prove. For a caption, treat 2,200 characters as permission to go deep once someone has tapped "more," not as a target to fill on every post.

The bio is a separate, much tighter field: 150 characters, full stop, with no separate preview cutoff since the whole thing is visible at once on a profile. That is not much room for a business name, a one-line pitch and a call to action, which is why I wrote a full Instagram bio guide for business accounts covering how to fit all three without it reading like a list of keywords. Usernames are capped at 30 characters and can only use letters, numbers, periods and underscores, so a long brand name usually needs shortening rather than a workaround.

Hashtags cap out at 30 per caption, and every hashtag counts toward the same 2,200-character total as your regular text, it is not a separate allowance. Add a 31st tag and Instagram has been known to reject the whole caption rather than just drop the extra one, so it pays to count rather than guess. I go through which hashtags are actually worth using in my best Instagram hashtags guide, and separately keep a running list of hashtags Instagram restricts, since a single flagged tag can quietly limit a post's reach regardless of how well the caption performs. On the Painex Clinic account I manage in Pune, a Reel that crossed 742,000 views with 94% of that reach from non-followers used a caption built around a clear opening line, not a caption that used anywhere near the full 2,200 characters.

Facebook character limits: posts, Page About and comments

A Facebook post can technically run to 63,206 characters, a number that has stayed fixed since the platform first published it years ago and rarely matters in practice, since almost every post that performs well sits far below it. What matters more is that the feed truncates a post at roughly 477 to 480 characters before showing "See more," based on independent tracking rather than a number Meta itself publishes, so treat that cutoff as a strong estimate rather than an exact rule.

Page fields are less consistent than the post limit. The short "Additional Info" tagline and the longer About or Story section are governed by different, unpublished limits, and trackers disagree on the exact figures, some reporting around 100 characters for the short tagline and others closer to 255 for the longer field. Rather than trust any single number here, open your own Page's About edit screen and let the field's own counter tell you what you actually have to work with. Facebook does not enforce an official hashtag cap, but posts stuffed with tags read as spam to both people and the algorithm, so two or three relevant ones is the practical ceiling regardless of what the platform technically allows.

LinkedIn character limits: posts, headline and About section

LinkedIn's own help centre states plainly that a post can run to 3,000 characters, which is the exact figure to plan around rather than an older number you might remember from a previous limit increase. Independent tracking puts the feed preview at roughly 140 characters on mobile and up to about 210 on desktop before "see more" appears, though LinkedIn does not publish that cutoff itself, so those two figures are estimates rather than a documented rule. I break down how to use the space between the hook and the fold in my guide to formatting LinkedIn posts.

Away from the post composer, a LinkedIn headline is capped at 220 characters, which is barely two sentences once you account for a job title, a company name and any separators between them. My LinkedIn headline examples guide covers how to use that narrow space without it reading like a keyword dump. The About section gives far more room, 2,600 characters, enough for a proper first-person summary rather than a bullet list of skills. LinkedIn has no official hashtag limit, but three to five relevant ones is the convention most accounts settle on, since a post buried under a dozen tags reads as an ad rather than a professional update.

X (formerly Twitter): free vs Premium character limits

A standard X post is capped at 280 characters, the same limit the platform has used since 2017, and that number applies whether you are reading or writing a free-tier post. X Premium subscribers can publish long posts of up to 25,000 characters, shown in full on the post's own page, while the timeline itself still only previews the first 280 characters behind a "Show more" link for everyone, Premium or not. X has changed this Premium ceiling more than once as the product evolved, which is exactly the kind of number worth reconfirming in X's own help centre before you plan a long post around it rather than trusting a saved screenshot from a year ago.

A bio on X is limited to 160 characters and a handle to 15, both fixed since long before the platform's name change and unlikely to move again soon. One quirk worth knowing if you post links often: X shortens every URL to a fixed 23 characters through its own link wrapper, regardless of how long the actual address is, so a long tracking link barely costs you anything against the 280-character limit.

YouTube character limits: titles, descriptions and handles

A YouTube video title is capped at 100 characters, though search results and suggested videos usually only show the first 60 to 70 before cutting it off, so the keyword or hook you actually want noticed needs to sit well inside that visible range. The description field is far more generous at 5,000 characters, confirmed on YouTube's own help pages, but only roughly the first 100 to 157 characters show above the fold before a viewer has to tap "Show more," depending on the device and where the description is being viewed.

A channel's handle, the @name that replaced the old custom URL system, runs from 3 to 30 characters and has to be unique across all of YouTube, which is why short, generic handles are usually already taken. The channel description, separate from any single video's description, is capped at 1,000 characters, with only around the first 150 showing in search snippets and the channel's About preview. None of these fields have an official hashtag limit, though YouTube only treats the first few hashtags in a title as functional for classification and quietly ignores the rest.

Threads, Pinterest, WhatsApp Business and Google Business Profile limits

Threads

A Threads post is capped at 500 characters, and since Threads accounts are tied directly to Instagram, the bio and username limits are shared: 150 characters for the bio, 30 for the username, identical to Instagram's own. Meta added an optional attached text block in September 2025 that allows up to 10,000 characters of extra text on a single post, shown as an expandable section that sits outside the main 500-character post itself rather than replacing that limit.

Pinterest

Pinterest is the platform where I found the most disagreement between what trackers report and what Pinterest's own current help page actually says. Most character-counting sites still list a 500-character Pin description limit, but Pinterest's own Pin specifications page states the description field now accepts up to 800 characters, with a separate 250-character text box for certain Pin types. Pin titles are capped at 100 characters, and only 40 to 60 characters of either field show in the main feed before a person has to open the Pin. The profile bio is reported anywhere from 160 to 500 characters depending on the source and when it was checked, so I am flagging it as unresolved rather than picking a number that might already be wrong by the time you read this.

WhatsApp Business

The WhatsApp Business app splits identity into two separate fields that get confused constantly: the About line, a single sentence capped at 139 characters that shows before someone even opens a chat with you, and the longer Description field inside your Business Info, capped at 256 characters, which shows once the chat is open. Businesses using the WhatsApp Business Platform API rather than the ordinary app see a different limit again, a 512-character description field, since the API and the consumer app are built as separate products with separate specifications.

Google Business Profile

A Google Business Profile post accepts up to 1,500 characters in the composer, a figure that is consistently reported and has held steady since Google's last major change to the feature, though Google's own help pages do not spell the exact number out in plain text, so I am presenting it as reported rather than as a quote from Google itself. Roughly the first 250 to 300 characters show before "Read more" appears in search and Maps results. The separate business description field allows up to 750 characters, with only the first 250 visible before its own "Read more" link. I go through both fields in detail in my Google Business Profile description guide and cover posting cadence and formatting in my Google Business Profile posting guide.

Limits are ceilings, not targets: ideal length by format

Every limit in the tables above is the most a platform will accept, not what actually performs best, and treating the ceiling as a goal is one of the most common mistakes I see on small business accounts. An Instagram caption capped at 2,200 characters does not mean a post needs anywhere near that; a single product photo usually needs one line under 125 characters, while a carousel someone has already swiped through five times has earned the right to a longer, 300 to 2,200 character payoff. The right length depends on how much attention the format has already earned by the time someone reaches your text, not on how much room the platform technically gives you.

The same logic applies across every platform in this guide. A LinkedIn post between roughly 1,300 and 2,500 characters tends to out-perform a post under 400 characters, based on independent analysis of hundreds of thousands of posts, yet plenty of accounts still write a single line and wonder why reach is flat. A WhatsApp Business About line has 139 characters to work with, but the businesses that convert best use fewer than 20 of them, a name and a one-line promise, because that field is read in a fraction of a second before someone decides whether to open the chat at all. I cover how frequently to actually publish across formats, separate from length, in my guide to how often to post on social media.

Whatever you put before the truncation point should be able to stand alone, since for a meaningful share of your audience, it is the only part of the post they will ever read. Put the specific claim, the number or the question in the first line, and let everything after the cut reward the people who tap through rather than repeat what they already saw.

How to check your caption length before you publish

This is the same five-minute check I run before publishing anything client facing, regardless of which platform it is going on. It takes longer to explain than to actually do once you have it as a habit.

Step 1: Write the draft in plain text first

Get the message right before worrying about the count. Draft your caption, post or bio in a plain notes app or directly in the platform's own composer, without adding styled Unicode fonts or excessive emoji that make the real length harder to judge by eye.

Step 2: Paste it into a character counter

Paste the draft into my free word and character counter to see the exact word count, character count with and without spaces, and estimated reading time. Guessing by eye is unreliable once a draft passes a couple of sentences, and the tool updates live as you edit.

Step 3: Check it against the platform's real limit, not the truncation point

Compare the count against the actual field limit from the tables earlier in this guide, not a number you remember from a year ago, since platforms change these without much notice. Remember that the truncation point, where "more" appears, is usually far shorter than the technical maximum.

Step 4: Trim the opening line to the visible preview length

Make sure the first 125 to 210 characters, depending on the platform, carry the actual point on their own, since that is the part most people read before deciding whether to tap "more" at all. If your draft came from a pasted press release or an old email in inconsistent capitalisation, my guide to changing uppercase to lowercase in Word, Excel and Google Docs and the free case converter both fix that in a few seconds before you paste the final version in.

Step 5: Preview on the real app before you publish

Open the draft on your phone in the actual app, not just the composer on a laptop, and confirm nothing is cut off mid-sentence or mid-word. A caption that reads perfectly in a text editor can still break awkwardly once the platform's own line wrapping and truncation take over.

Common mistakes with character limits

Most of these come up repeatedly when I audit a small business account, and each one is a five-minute fix once you know to look for it.

• Writing to fill the maximum instead of the message. A 2,200-character Instagram caption on a single product photo usually means padding, not value.
• Confusing the technical limit with the visible preview. A LinkedIn post can hold 3,000 characters, but only the first 140 or so actually get read before someone decides whether to tap further.
• Trusting an old screenshot over the current composer. X has raised and changed its Premium long-post limit more than once, and Pinterest's own description limit has moved since most trackers last checked it.
• Treating hashtags as free. On Instagram, every hashtag counts toward the same 2,200-character caption total as your regular text, not a separate bucket.
• Leaving the WhatsApp Business About line blank or generic. With only 139 characters and no separate preview cut, that single line is doing all the work before a chat is even opened.
• Not checking mobile. A caption or post that looks fine in a desktop composer can wrap, truncate or hide a call to action differently on a phone screen.

Honest limits: when the exact count does not matter

Character limits are worth checking before a launch post, a paid campaign, or anything going to a client for approval, since a truncated call to action or a rejected caption over a hard cap is an easy, embarrassing mistake to avoid. For routine day-to-day posting, chasing the exact character count is rarely the thing most worth your time: a mediocre hook at 118 characters will still underperform a strong one at 140, even though the second technically risks a slightly later truncation point.

These numbers will also drift. Some of the ranges in this guide, particularly Pinterest's description field and Google Business Profile's post limit, already show real disagreement between what platforms have published in the past and what current trackers report, and I expect at least one number here to be out of date within a year. Treat this guide as a strong starting reference, not a permanent spec sheet, and let the live counter in whatever you are using, mine or the platform's own, have the final say before you publish anything that really matters.

Frequently asked questions

What is the Instagram caption character limit in 2026?

Instagram allows up to 2,200 characters in a single caption, including hashtags and mentions, at the time of writing. Only around the first 125 characters show in the feed before people have to tap "more," so the limit rarely matters as much as your opening line does. Bios are capped separately at 150 characters and usernames at 30 characters. Always check the live counter in the app before a big campaign, since Meta has changed limits before without a public announcement.

How many characters can a LinkedIn post be?

LinkedIn's own help pages state a post can run up to 3,000 characters, including spaces, emojis and line breaks. Independent tracking suggests the feed preview cuts off at roughly 140 characters on mobile and closer to 210 on desktop before showing "see more," though LinkedIn does not publish that cutoff itself. A LinkedIn headline is capped separately at 220 characters and the About section at 2,600 characters.

What is the X character limit in 2026?

A standard X post is limited to 280 characters, the same limit the platform has used since 2017. X Premium subscribers can publish long posts of up to 25,000 characters, shown in full on the post page, while the timeline still previews only the first 280 characters with a "Show more" link. Free accounts cannot read or write past 280 characters without a Premium subscription.

What are the bio and username character limits across platforms?

They vary widely. Instagram and Threads share a 150-character bio and a 30-character username. X allows a 160-character bio and a 15-character handle. LinkedIn splits identity into a 220-character headline and a 2,600-character About section instead of one bio field. Pinterest and Facebook are less consistent, since different sources report different figures for their profile fields, so check your own account's edit screen rather than trust a fixed number.

Do social media character limits count emoji, links and hashtags?

Yes, almost always. Every platform in this guide counts hashtags, mentions, emoji and pasted links as part of the same character total as your regular text, not as a separate allowance. Some systems count an emoji as more than one character internally, though what you see on screen is usually what counts visually. X is the one exception worth knowing, since it shortens any link to a fixed 23 characters regardless of the original URL's length.

Related guides

• Uppercase to lowercase in Word, Excel and Google Docs
• How to write Instagram captions that get saves and shares
• How to format LinkedIn posts in 2026
• Instagram bio guide for business accounts
• LinkedIn headline examples
• Google Business Profile posting guide
• How often to post on social media
• Free word and character counter

Your next step

Pick the post you are about to publish today, run its caption or copy through the free word and character counter, and trim the opening line to fit the real preview length for that platform before you hit publish. If you want a full content and formatting review across your accounts, get in touch and I will go through it with you.