Character Counter
Count every character in your text — with and without spaces — and set a limit to see exactly how many characters you have left.
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What does the Character Counter do?
Character limits are everywhere: meta descriptions, SMS messages, form fields, tweets and ad copy. This counter shows the total characters, characters without spaces, letters, digits, spaces, symbols and the size in UTF-8 bytes.
Emojis and accented letters are counted as one character each — the way you see them — rather than as several hidden code units. The byte count is useful for databases and APIs that limit storage size rather than visible characters.
How to use the Character Counter
- Paste or type your text.
- Optionally enter a character limit, such as 160 for an SMS or 155 for a meta description.
- Watch “Remaining” — it turns red and shows a warning when you go over.
- Use the breakdown to see how many letters, digits and symbols you used.
Examples
Meta description
With a limit of 160, a 172-character description shows “−12” remaining, telling you to trim 12 characters.
Emoji counting
“Hi 👋🏽” is 4 characters (H, i, space and the waving hand with skin tone) but 11 UTF-8 bytes.
Common use cases
- Writing SMS, meta descriptions and ad headlines
- Checking form and database field limits
- Preparing usernames, bios and captions
- Estimating UTF-8 byte size for APIs
Features and benefits
- Private by design — your data is processed on your device and never uploaded.
- Free with no account, no watermark and no usage limits.
- Works on phones, tablets and desktops in any modern browser.
Limitations to know
- Some platforms count characters differently — X counts links as 23 characters and some emojis as 2. Use the Social Media Character Counter for platform-specific rules.
Helpful guides
Frequently asked questions
Do spaces count as characters?
Yes, in most limits spaces count. The tool shows both totals so you can use whichever your platform requires.
Why is the byte count higher than the character count?
In UTF-8, English letters use 1 byte, but accented letters, Urdu and most emojis use 2–4 bytes each.
Is there a maximum length?
No fixed limit; very long texts are counted locally, so speed depends on your device.
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