This Character Counter shows how many characters are in your text as you type, with and without spaces, along with the word and line count. It also shows how close you are to common length guides for social posts, text messages and search results.
How to use the Character Counter
- Type or paste your text into the box.
- Read the character, word and line counts, which update instantly.
- Check the length guides below to see how many characters are left, or by how many you are over.
- Select Clear text to start again.
What is counted
- Characters: every visible symbol, including spaces, punctuation and line breaks. An emoji counts as one character.
- Without spaces: the same count with all spaces and line breaks removed.
- Words: groups of characters separated by spaces.
- Lines: text separated by line breaks.
Worked example
The text “Hello world” has 11 characters with spaces, 10 without spaces and 2 words. Against a 160 character guide, it leaves 149 characters.
To learn what these limits mean in practice, read our guide Character Limits for Posts, SMS and Search Results. For a full word and reading time count, use the Word Counter.
Limits to know about
Platforms can count some characters differently, for example web links, and their limits can change, so check the platform’s current rules. The 60 and 160 character guides for search results are rough guides, because search engines shorten text by pixel width and not by exact character count. A single SMS can hold 160 basic characters, but messages with some special characters or emoji use a different encoding and a lower limit. The tool runs in your browser, so your text is not sent to our servers.
Frequently asked questions
Do spaces count as characters?
Yes, in the main count. The “Without spaces” figure leaves them out.
Why is my SMS count different from my phone?
Phones use different encodings for special characters and emoji, so the limit per message can be lower than 160.
Is my text saved?
No. Counting happens in your browser.