Free Character Counter
Count characters with and without spaces in real time, with handy markers for common limits like meta descriptions and social posts.
Against common limits
- Meta description (160)160 left
- Social post (280)280 left
Quick answer
A character counter reports how many characters your text contains, both including and excluding spaces. It’s used to stay within limits such as a 160-character meta description, a 280-character post, or a fixed-length field.
Formula & method
Every Unicode character is counted, including spaces, punctuation, and line breaks. A second count excludes whitespace. Note that some emoji and accented characters are made of multiple code units, so a strict byte-based system elsewhere may count them differently.
Examples
- Input
- “Hello”
- Result
- 5 characters
- Why
- Five letters, no spaces.
- Input
- “Hi there”
- Result
- 8 with spaces, 7 without
- Why
- The space counts in one total but not the other.
- Input
- A 165-character description
- Result
- Over the ~160 limit
- Why
- Useful for trimming text to fit a search snippet.
When to use this tool
- Writing a meta title or description for search results.
- Fitting a social media post, headline, or ad within its limit.
- Filling a form field that caps the number of characters.
Common mistakes
- Assuming emoji always count as one character — some are composed of several code units.
- Counting a trailing space or newline you didn’t mean to include.
- Using the “with spaces” total where a platform actually limits visible characters only.
Frequently asked questions
＋ － What’s the difference between characters with and without spaces?
“With spaces” counts every character including blanks; “without spaces” ignores spaces, tabs, and line breaks. Different platforms measure different ways.
＋ － How are emoji and accented letters counted?
They’re counted by character as your browser sees them, but some are built from multiple code units, so a byte-strict system may report a higher number.
＋ － What’s a good length for a meta description?
Around 150–160 characters is a common target so it isn’t truncated in search results, though the exact cutoff varies.
＋ － Does it also count words and lines?
Yes. Alongside characters, the tool shows the word count and line count for quick reference.
＋ － Is my text private?
Yes. The count runs entirely in your browser; nothing you type is uploaded or stored by us.
- ✓ Free to use
- ✓ No sign-up required
- ✓ Runs entirely in your browser — nothing is uploaded.
- ✓ Formula and method shown above
Provided “as is” for general information only — results may be inaccurate, so verify before you rely on them. No warranty; use at your own risk.
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