Toolvantas

Text & writing utility

Character Counter

Use this free character counter to check exact character counts with and without spaces, UTF-8 byte length, SMS segments, and live platform limits.

Enter text to count characters

Counts update on every keystroke, including emojis, accents, and multi-byte scripts.

Track remaining characters against any strict field cap.
Most web forms count spaces; databases often cap UTF-8 bytes.

Character breakdown

Characters (including spaces)

0
Characters (no spaces)0
Custom limit status160 remaining
UTF-8 byte length0 bytes
SMS segments & encoding0 (GSM-7)
Words / Lines0 / 0
Letters / Digits0 / 0

Character composition

  • Uppercase / Lowercase letters0 / 0
  • Spaces & line breaks0
  • Punctuation & symbols0

Platform character limits

    Why character, byte, and SMS counts differ

    Not all systems measure text length the same way. Understanding which ruler your target platform uses prevents truncated headlines and unexpected multi-part SMS charges:

    • Visible characters (Unicode code points): Counts human-readable letters, digits, spaces, and symbols. Standard ASCII letters take 1 byte in UTF-8, accented letters take 2 bytes, South/East Asian characters take 3 bytes, and emojis take 4 bytes.
    • GSM-7 vs. Unicode (UCS-2) SMS: Standard GSM-7 text fits 160 characters in a single SMS (or 153 characters per segment in multi-part messages). Adding even a single emoji, curly quote, or non-GSM script switches the message to UCS-2 encoding, reducing capacity to 70 characters (or 67 per multi-part segment).

    Quick reference: SEO & social limits

    • Google Search Title Tag: ~50–60 characters before pixel truncation in SERPs.
    • Google Meta Description: ~150–160 characters on desktop (~120 on mobile).
    • X (Twitter) Standard Post: 280 characters (URLs count as 23 characters).
    • Instagram Bio / Caption: 150 characters for bio; 2,200 characters for captions.
    • YouTube Video Title: 100 characters maximum (~70 visible before truncation).
    • LinkedIn Post: 3,000 characters maximum.

    Frequently asked questions

    Do spaces and line breaks count as characters?

    Yes—in almost all web forms, social networks, SMS gateways, and database VARCHAR fields, spaces and line breaks count toward the character limit. Use "Characters (no spaces)" when an assignment or translation brief explicitly excludes spaces.

    Why did adding one emoji drop my SMS limit from 160 to 70?

    Emojis are outside the 7-bit GSM character set, forcing carriers to encode the entire message in 16-bit UCS-2 Unicode. That cuts single-SMS capacity from 160 characters to 70 characters.

    How many bytes does UTF-8 use per character?

    UTF-8 uses 1 byte for basic English letters, numbers, and punctuation, 2 bytes for Latin accents/Cyrillic/Arabic, 3 bytes for Bengali/Hindi/CJK characters, and 4 bytes for emojis.

    What does "Clean extra spaces" do?

    It trims leading and trailing spaces on each line and collapses accidental double or triple spaces into single spaces without removing your paragraph breaks.

    How many characters should an SEO meta description have?

    Aim for 140 to 160 characters so your core value proposition appears in search results without an ellipsis cutoff.

    Is my pasted text private?

    Yes. Everything runs locally inside your browser with zero server requests or external storage.

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