Social Media Character Limits 2026: Every Platform in One Table

You write the perfect caption, paste it into five networks, and two of them cut it off. X wants it under 280 characters, Bluesky under 300, and Instagram hides everything after the first line or two behind "more".

Here are the character limits for every major platform in one place, checked in October 2026. We've also added the number that matters more than the limit: how much people actually see before the post gets cut off.

Character limits by platform (2026)

"Limit" is the most the platform will accept. "Before it's cut off" is roughly what shows in the feed before a "See more" link. It varies a little by device.

If you remember one row, make it Instagram. 2,200 characters sounds generous, but most people decide whether to tap "more" from the first 125.

The limit that actually matters: the fold

Very few posts get anywhere near 2,200 or 3,000 characters, and the ones that do rarely need to. The number that changes your results is how much people read before they decide to keep scrolling. A few habits that help:

Put the point in the first line. "We're open late this Friday" beats "Hey everyone! Hope your week is going well…"

Don't open with hashtags or a link. They eat the preview and say nothing.

Break long captions into short paragraphs. A wall of text gets skipped, even below the fold.

End with one clear ask. Comment, save, book or call. Not all four.

We wrote more about this in how to write social media captions.

Not every character counts the same

This is where people get caught out. The same text can be a different length on different networks:

Links on X always count as 23 characters, however long or short the URL is.

Emoji on X count as two characters. On Bluesky most count as one.

Hashtags and @mentions count toward the limit everywhere.

Instagram will refuse a post with more than five hashtags, whatever the character count.

So a caption that fits on X can fail on Bluesky, and the other way round. Counting by hand isn't realistic when you post to five networks a day.

Should you ever use the full limit?

Sometimes. Long LinkedIn posts that tell a real story still do well, and a detailed Facebook post works for things like event details or a menu. YouTube descriptions should be long, because search reads them.

On X, Threads and Bluesky, short usually wins. If you need more room, write a thread instead of one long post.

Bio and profile limits

While you're tidying up, here are the profile limits people ask about most:

Instagram bio: 150 characters

X bio: 160 characters

TikTok bio: 80 characters

LinkedIn headline: 220 characters

YouTube channel description: 1,000 characters

Posting one caption to several networks

The simplest approach is to write the version for your tightest network first, usually X or Bluesky, and then add detail for Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn. It's much easier to expand a sharp 250-character post than to cut a 1,500-character one down.

In GoBrandIt, the composer shows how many characters you have left on each network you've picked, counted the way that network counts them. Links on X count as 23, emoji are counted correctly, and Instagram's hashtag cap is included. If one version runs long, edit just that network's copy, or let "Adapt for each platform" rewrite it in your Brand Voice.

Questions people ask

What is the character limit on X in 2026?

280 characters for free accounts. X Premium subscribers can post up to 25,000, but anything over 280 is folded behind "Show more".

How long can an Instagram caption be?

2,200 characters, with a maximum of five hashtags. Only about the first 125 characters show before "more".

What is the Bluesky character limit?

300 characters per post. For longer thoughts, reply to yourself to make a thread.

Do spaces count as characters?

Yes. Spaces, line breaks and punctuation all count on every platform.

Limits checked October 2026. Platforms change these from time to time. If you spot one that's out of date, let us know and we'll fix it.