X (Twitter) Character Limit

Every limit is taken from the platform’s own help or developer pages, last checked on 4 October 2026. Platforms change these without notice, so if a figure looks wrong, the linked page is the one to trust.

X does not simply count letters. Its developer documentation describes a weighted count:

• Latin letters, numbers, punctuation and common symbols count as 1.
• Emoji count as 2 each, including skin tones and combined emoji such as families.
• Chinese, Japanese and Korean characters count as 2 each, so a post in those scripts holds about 140 characters.
• Links count as 23 characters whatever their real length, because X shortens every link.
• Photos, GIFs and videos attached through X’s own apps count as 0.

Our counter counts every character as 1, the way most other places do. For a post with emoji or links, use the rules above to adjust: add one for each emoji, and swap each link for 23.

X Premium subscribers can write longer posts of up to 25,000 characters. Everyone can read them, but only subscribers can create them. Without Premium, 280 is the limit.

• LinkedIn
• Instagram
• YouTube
• TikTok
• SMS
• UCAS personal statement

For anything else, the character counter counts with and without spaces.