Social Media Character Limits Cheat Sheet (2026)

Hitting a platform's hard limit isn't the only thing to watch for — most platforms also truncate visually well before the technical maximum, hiding your call-to-action behind a "see more" link nobody taps. Knowing both numbers changes how you write the first line.

Instagram captions

The hard limit is 2,200 characters, but the feed only shows roughly the first 125 characters before truncating to "more." Put your hook and your most important point inside that window — the rest of the caption is for people who already decided to keep reading.

X/Twitter posts

280 characters for most accounts, though Premium subscribers get a much higher limit. The practical constraint is still 280 for the majority of your audience's replies and quote-posts, so write for that number even if your own account has more room.

LinkedIn posts

3,000 characters max, but the feed truncates around 200-210 characters before showing "see more." LinkedIn rewards longer, substantive posts more than people assume — the truncation point is about the hook, not a signal to keep posts short overall.

TikTok and YouTube

TikTok captions cap around 2,200 characters; YouTube titles are effectively capped around 100 characters for full display, with anything longer getting cut off in search results and suggested video rows. YouTube descriptions allow up to 5,000 characters, but only the first couple of lines show before "show more."

The habit worth building

Limits change, and platforms quietly adjust truncation points without announcing it. Rather than memorizing exact numbers, build the habit of checking your copy against the current limit before publishing — it takes seconds and prevents a perfectly good post from getting cut off mid-sentence.