How X counts characters
X does not count raw characters like a text editor. It gives each character a weight, and a standard post can hold 280 of them. The rules this counter follows:
- Most Latin, Greek, Cyrillic, Arabic, Hebrew and Indic letters count as 1. Spaces, punctuation and line breaks count as 1 too.
- Emoji count as 2. A family or a flag is still one emoji, so it counts as 2.
- Chinese, Japanese and Korean characters count as 2, so about 140 of them fill a post.
- Every link counts as 23, whatever its real length, because X wraps links in its own short links. This is also true for links that are already shortened.
- Hashtags and @mentions count as normal text. Attached photos and videos do not take characters from the text.
280 or 25,000
The standard limit is 280. X Premium subscribers can write posts of up to 25,000 characters, which the timeline shows as a short preview with a Show more link. Choose the account type in the tool to check against either limit.
Split a long text into a thread
If your text is over 280, the counter splits it at word boundaries into posts that each fit, and numbers them such as (1/3). Copy each post and publish them as a thread.
Character limits on other networks
| Network | Limit for the main text |
|---|---|
| X (standard) | 280 |
| X Premium | 25,000 |
| Bluesky | 300 |
| Threads | 500 |
| Instagram caption | 2,200 (the first 125 or so show before the more link) |
| LinkedIn post | 3,000 |
| YouTube title and description | 100 and 5,000 |
| Google Business Profile post | 1,500 |
Platforms change these limits from time to time, so check the app before a big campaign. Close to the limit, the platform count can differ by a character or two from any outside counter.
Related tools
For a plain count use the character counter with spaces, for a search snippet use the meta description counter, and for the picture sizes of each network see Instagram post size and YouTube thumbnail size. The character count guide explains the rules behind limits.