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Social Media Character Limits (2026) for Every Network

By PostMediaAI6 min read

Every social network caps how much text a post can hold, and the caps are very different: 300 characters on Bluesky, 3,000 on LinkedIn, 5,000 in a YouTube description. If you write one post and send it everywhere, it will be cut off, rejected or simply too long somewhere. This guide lists the current limits from each platform's own help or developer documentation, as of Nov 2026, and shows how to write one idea that fits them all.

Social media character limits, platform by platform

Character limits (checked 1 Nov 2026)

  • X: field: Post (standard account); limit: 280 characters; up to 25,000 with Premium; official source: help.x.com
  • LinkedIn: field: Post; limit: 3,000 characters (articles up to 125,000); official source: linkedin.com/help
  • Instagram: field: Caption; limit: 2,200 characters, up to 20 @ tags; up to 5 hashtags per post; official source: developers.facebook.com, help.instagram.com
  • Threads: field: Post; limit: 500 characters, plus an optional text attachment of up to 10,000; official source: about.fb.com
  • TikTok: field: Video caption via API; limit: 2,200 (UTF-16 units); official source: developers.tiktok.com
  • YouTube: field: Title / description; limit: 100 / 5,000 characters; official source: support.google.com/youtube
  • Pinterest: field: Pin title / description; limit: 100 / 800 characters; official source: help.pinterest.com
  • Bluesky: field: Post; limit: 300 characters (grapheme clusters); official source: docs.bsky.app
  • Mastodon: field: Post; limit: 500 characters by default (servers can differ); links count as 23; official source: docs.joinmastodon.org
  • Discord: field: Message; limit: 2,000 characters; official source: docs.discord.com
  • Telegram: field: Message / media caption; limit: 4,096 / 1,024 characters; official source: core.telegram.org

A note on counting: platforms do not all count the same way. Bluesky counts "Unicode grapheme clusters", so an emoji usually counts as one; TikTok's API counts UTF-16 units, so some emoji count as two; Mastodon counts every link as 23 characters regardless of length (docs.bsky.app, developers.tiktok.com, docs.joinmastodon.org). Leave a margin rather than writing to the last character.

X (Twitter)

Standard posts allow 280 characters. X Premium subscribers can write longer posts of up to 25,000 characters, including in replies and quotes, and anyone can read them (help.x.com). If your audience includes people on standard accounts, remember long posts are collapsed in the timeline, so the first 280 characters still do most of the work.

LinkedIn

LinkedIn posts can contain up to 3,000 characters; past that, LinkedIn suggests writing an article, which can run to 125,000 characters (linkedin.com/help). LinkedIn's help page also notes it may limit the visibility of posts when it detects excessive posting or the use of an automation tool, which is a good reason to post at a human pace.

Instagram

Meta's developer documentation caps an Instagram caption at 2,200 characters and 20 @ tags (developers.facebook.com). Hashtags changed recently: Instagram's Help Center now says you can use up to 5 hashtags on a post, and that a comment with more than 5 will not post (help.instagram.com). The same developer page still mentions 30 hashtags, so follow the stricter, newer rule.

Threads

A Threads post holds 500 characters. Since September 2025, you can add a text attachment of up to 10,000 characters to a post (about.fb.com). Threads' own announcement said text attachments could not be scheduled at launch, so check before you plan long attachments in a scheduler.

TikTok

For videos posted through TikTok's Content Posting API, which is how schedulers publish, the caption ("title" field) has a maximum of 2,200 UTF-16 runes, including hashtags and mentions (developers.tiktok.com). The TikTok app may allow longer captions when posting natively; if you schedule, write to 2,200.

YouTube and YouTube Shorts

Titles are limited to 100 characters and descriptions to 5,000 (support.google.com/youtube). YouTube's tips suggest putting the most important information in the first lines of the description, since that is what viewers see before expanding it.

Pinterest

Pin titles can be up to 100 characters and descriptions up to 800. Pinterest notes descriptions do not appear in the home or search feed, so the title and image carry the first impression (help.pinterest.com).

Bluesky and Mastodon

Bluesky posts are limited to 300 characters, more precisely 300 Unicode grapheme clusters (docs.bsky.app). Mastodon's default limit is 500 characters, but each server can set its own, and links count as 23 characters (docs.joinmastodon.org).

Discord and Telegram

A Discord message holds up to 2,000 characters (docs.discord.com). On Telegram, a text message holds up to 4,096 characters, but a caption on a photo, video or document is limited to 1,024 (core.telegram.org). That second number catches many people who post announcements with an image.

Writing one post that fits every network

  1. Write the core message in 280 characters or less. That version works on X, Bluesky and as the opening of everything else.
  2. Expand for LinkedIn and Instagram: add context, a short story or steps, and a clear call to action.
  3. Trim hashtags to 5 or fewer for Instagram, and drop them where they add little.
  4. For YouTube and Pinterest, write a separate title of under 100 characters with your main keyword early.
  5. For Telegram posts with an image, keep the caption under 1,024 characters or send the text separately.

PostMediaAI is built for this step. Give it a topic or a link and it drafts a version for each channel, and you can rewrite any draft with Shorter, More casual or For LinkedIn before scheduling (postmediaai.com). It publishes to 30+ channels, including every network in the table above (postmediaai.com/faq). For more on adapting one idea per network, see AI social media content creation.

Common mistakes

  • Using an old hashtag rule: Instagram's limit is now 5, not 30.
  • Forgetting that links count: on Mastodon every link uses 23 characters.
  • Putting the key point last: on most networks, only the first lines show before "more".
  • Copy-pasting the LinkedIn version to Bluesky: it will be over 300 characters.

If you are building a weekly routine, our social media scheduling guide covers batching posts once you have versions for each network.

FAQ

What is the character limit on X (Twitter)?

280 characters for standard accounts; up to 25,000 for X Premium subscribers (help.x.com).

How many characters can a LinkedIn post have?

Up to 3,000 characters. Articles can have up to 125,000 (linkedin.com/help).

What is the Instagram caption limit?

2,200 characters with up to 20 @ tags, and up to 5 hashtags per post (developers.facebook.com, help.instagram.com).

Which social network has the shortest character limit?

Of the major networks in this guide, X standard posts are the shortest at 280, followed by Bluesky at 300 and Threads and Mastodon at 500 (help.x.com, docs.bsky.app, about.fb.com, docs.joinmastodon.org).

Related guides: How to Auto Post to Instagram (and Reels), Social Media Image Sizes: Official Specs by Platform and How to Schedule Telegram Channel Posts.

Sources

Competitor details below were read on each vendor's own pricing or product page on 1 November 2026. Plans change often, so check the live page before you buy.

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