Social Media Character Limits for Every Network (2026)
Most publishing mistakes are not big strategy problems. They are small format problems: a caption runs long, a link counts differently than expected, a video title gets clipped, or a carousel has more media than one network allows.
Use this guide as a practical planning reference for social media character limits in 2026. Exact publishing rules can vary by account type, API access, app version, region, media format, and platform approval status, so treat these as working limits and validate the final post before it goes live.
Why character limits still matter
A high character limit does not mean you should use every character. Long-form LinkedIn posts can work well when the idea needs context, and Instagram captions can carry a story, but most feeds still reward clarity. Character limits matter because they affect:
- Whether the post publishes at all.
- How much text appears before a “see more” break.
- Whether hashtags, links, mentions, emojis, and line breaks count the way you expect.
- Whether your master caption can be reused or needs a platform-specific version.
- Whether an idea should become a thread, carousel, video description, community update, or blog post instead.
For multi-network publishing, the safest workflow is simple: write the core message once, then tailor it for each platform.
Character and image limits by network
| Network | Character limit | Max images | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2,200 | 10 | Caption cap; up to 30 hashtags. Every post needs an image or video. | |
| 63,000 | 10 | Effectively no limit for social copy. | |
| 3,000 | 20 | Member posts. | |
| TikTok | 2,200 | 35 | Caption for videos and photo posts. |
| YouTube | 5,000 | — | Description cap — the title caps separately at 100 characters. |
| X | 280 | 4 | Links always count as 23 characters; links in X posts are on the Pro plan. |
| Threads | 500 | 20 | |
| Bluesky | 300 | 4 | |
| Mastodon | 500 | 4 | The fediverse default; your instance may allow more. |
| Telegram | 4,096 | 10 | Text posts. A caption on a photo, album, or video caps at 1,024. |
| Discord | 2,000 | 10 | Per message, via webhook. |
| Tumblr | 4,096 | 30 | One text block via Tumblr's modern (NPF) API. |
| Slack | 3,000 | 5 | Per message, to the channel you connected. |
| 800 | 1 | Pin description; every Pin needs an image or video and a board. | |
| Google Business (coming soon) | 1,500 | 1 | Post summary. Coming soon on iHatePosting. |
Video limits by network
| Network | Max length | Max file size | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 15 minutes | 300 MB | Published as a Reel. Carousel clips cap at 60 seconds / 100 MB; Stories at 60 seconds. | |
| 4 hours | 1.953125 GB | Feed video. Reels cap at 90 seconds / 4 GB, 9:16 vertical. | |
| YouTube | 12 hours | 1.953125 GB | Also takes WebM and AVI. Longer uploads need a verified channel. |
| TikTok | 10 minutes | 1.953125 GB | |
| 30 minutes | 1.953125 GB | ||
| Threads | 5 minutes | 1 GB | |
| Bluesky | 10 minutes | 286 MB | MP4 only. |
| Mastodon | — | 99 MB | mastodon.social's default cap; your instance may allow more. |
| Telegram | — | 50 MB | MP4 only. Videos inside albums cap at 20 MB. |
| Discord | — | 10 MB | Standard (unboosted) server cap. |
| Tumblr | 10 minutes | 500 MB | MP4 or MOV; Tumblr transcodes what it accepts. |
| Slack | — | 1 GB | Uploaded to the channel you connected. |
| 15 minutes | 1.953125 GB | Video Pins. Pick a cover image, or iHatePosting uses the first frame. |
How to plan posts across networks
Start with the smallest text box
If you are posting everywhere, draft for X, Bluesky, Threads, or Mastodon first. A 280–500 character version forces you to decide what the post is actually about. Then expand for Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, YouTube, Tumblr, Telegram, and Discord.
Use platform-specific overrides
A single caption rarely fits every network. For example:
- On LinkedIn, add context, a point of view, and a reason to comment.
- On Instagram, lead with the visual hook and keep hashtags intentional.
- On YouTube, use the description for links, chapters, credits, and search context.
- On X, Threads, Bluesky, and Mastodon, split longer ideas into threads or chains.
- On Discord and Telegram, write like you are speaking to a community, not an algorithm.
Watch links, emojis, and mentions
A “character” is not always counted the same way. X uses weighted character counting. TikTok references UTF-16 runes in its publishing documentation. Telegram counts text after entity parsing. Mastodon depends partly on the instance. This is why a generic social media post size checker can be close but still wrong at publish time.
How iHatePosting helps prevent limit errors
iHatePosting is built for creators and teams that want to write once, tailor per platform, and avoid failed posts. It supports 14 live networks from one composer: Instagram, LinkedIn, X, Facebook, TikTok, YouTube, Pinterest, Bluesky, Threads, Mastodon, Telegram, Discord, Tumblr, and Slack. Google Business Profile is modeled and pending approval.
The composer includes per-network text overrides, option panels, live pre-publish validation, “will be skipped” warnings, per-platform previews in real layouts, per-platform media excludes and reordering, an emoji picker, saved caption snippets, hashtag groups with Instagram’s 30-hashtag cap, account groups, cross-network @mention warnings, a weighted X character counter, and AI assist for rewrites, tone, hooks, and hashtags within per-plan monthly allowances.
For scheduling, iHatePosting includes timezone-correct scheduling, post-now publishing, a drag-and-drop week and month calendar with media thumbnails, default posting times, and “your best time” suggestions computed from your own results. Reliability features include real-status fan-out confirmed by each platform API, loud failures with in-app reasons, email and web push alerts, one-tap retry, automatic retries with backoff, connection health checked before every publish, refreshed on the platform's own schedule, and you are told once — by e-mail and in the app — if a login ever needs you, and scheduled posts that wait for a reconnect instead of losing work.
You also get honest per-platform analytics with real nulls, views, engagement, trends, a best-time heatmap, top posts, per-post drill-downs, and CSV export.
Want fewer failed posts and less copy-paste work? Start the 90-day free trial and test your next cross-network campaign in one composer.
Frequently asked questions
What is a social media character limit?
A social media character limit is the maximum amount of text a platform allows in a field such as a post, caption, title, description, comment, or message. Spaces, emojis, links, mentions, and formatting may count differently by network.
Are LinkedIn character limits different for posts and articles?
Yes. LinkedIn posts have a 3,000-character limit, while articles are designed for much longer publishing. Use posts for feed engagement and articles when the idea needs a full long-form format.
What are the character limits on Twitter now that it is X?
Standard X posts are 280 characters, using weighted character counting. Eligible Premium accounts can publish longer posts, but short copy still matters because the feed preview is limited.
What are the most important Instagram character limits?
The main Instagram caption limit is 2,200 characters, and Instagram allows up to 30 hashtags per post. In practice, lead with the first line and keep the caption easy to scan.
Should my social media strategy use the maximum character count?
Usually, no. Character limits are technical ceilings, not best-practice targets. A strong social media strategy uses the space each platform gives you only when it improves clarity, context, or conversion.
Can a social media scheduler stop failed posts?
A good social media scheduler can reduce failures by validating each network before publishing. iHatePosting runs live pre-publish validation as you type and warns when a platform will be skipped.
Does iHatePosting support social media management tools workflows?
iHatePosting supports common social media management tools workflows such as cross-network publishing, scheduling, previews, drafts, CSV import, calendar planning, analytics, and per-platform tailoring.
Can I publish one post to every social media network at once?
You can write once in iHatePosting and tailor per platform using overrides, option panels, media exclusions, reordering, previews, and validation. That keeps one campaign consistent without forcing every network to use identical copy.
What happens if one platform fails but the others publish?
iHatePosting uses real-status fan-out. If a platform fails, you get an in-app reason plus email and web push alerts, and you can retry with one tap.
How much does iHatePosting cost?
iHatePosting is free for your first 90 days — unlimited accounts, unlimited scheduled posts per month, unlimited post-now publishing, and no credit card. Pricing is flat and account-based rather than per-channel or per-seat, and paid plans are coming soon.
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