xHow X counts characters
A standard post on X can be up to 280 characters, but X does not simply count letters. It uses a weighted length: most characters count as 1, while some count as 2. Latin, Turkish, Cyrillic, Greek, Arabic, Hebrew and many other scripts count as 1 per character. Chinese, Japanese and Korean characters count as 2, which is why a post written entirely in CJK fits roughly 140 characters.
Spaces and line breaks count as 1 each. Text is normalized before counting, so an accented letter typed as a base letter plus a combining accent still counts as one character. Some typographic symbols, such as the ellipsis character (…), count as 2 — typing three periods instead counts as 3.
Links and emoji
Every link counts as exactly 23 characters, no matter how long or short it is, because X wraps all links in its t.co shortener. A 120-character URL and a short domain like example.com both use 23 of your 280.
Each emoji counts as 2 characters. That includes combined emoji: a family emoji, a flag or a thumbs-up with a skin tone is built from several code points, but X counts the whole sequence as a single emoji of weight 2.
Photos, videos, GIFs and polls you attach do not count toward the limit. When you reply, the @usernames X adds automatically at the start of the reply are not counted either; mentions you type inside the text are.
Longer posts with X Premium
X Premium subscribers can publish posts up to 25,000 characters. The timeline shows only the beginning of a long post, followed by a “Show more” link, so the first ~280 characters still do most of the work. Turn on the Premium option above to check a long post against the 25,000 limit.
Other X character limits
| Post (standard) | 280 |
|---|---|
| Post (X Premium) | 25,000 |
| Bio | 160 |
| Display name | 50 |
| Username (@handle) | 15 |
| Direct message | 10,000 |
| Poll option | 25 |
Frequently asked questions
What is the character limit on X (Twitter)?
A standard post can be up to 280 characters. X Premium subscribers can post up to 25,000 characters. Bios are limited to 160 characters, display names to 50 and direct messages to 10,000.
Do links count toward the 280-character limit?
Yes, but every link counts as exactly 23 characters regardless of its real length, because X shortens all links with t.co.
How many characters does an emoji use?
Each emoji counts as 2 characters, including combined emoji such as flags, families and emoji with skin tones.
Why does my post in Chinese, Japanese or Korean fill up faster?
X counts CJK characters as 2 each, so a post written only in those scripts fits about 140 characters.
Does this counter store or send what I type?
No. The counter runs entirely in your browser. Your text is never sent to a server.