X (Twitter) character limit: what counts towards 280

Standard posts on X, formerly Twitter, are limited to 280 characters. That sounds simple until a draft that looks short is rejected, or a long link appears to use only part of the limit. X weights certain characters differently, and knowing the rules saves trial and error.

What counts

• Letters, numbers, spaces, punctuation and line breaks count as one each, for most Latin-script text.
• Links count as 23 characters each, however long or short the address is, because X wraps them in its own short link.
• Emoji count as two characters each.
• Chinese, Japanese and Korean characters count as two each, which halves the effective limit for those languages.

What does not count

• Attached photos, videos and GIFs.
• Quoted posts, which are attached rather than written into the text.
• Usernames at the start of a reply, added automatically.

Check a draft

1. Paste the draft into the Character Counter. It shows the count against the 280-character X limit.
2. If the post contains links, mentally replace each link with 23 characters. A 60-character link only uses 23.
3. If it contains emoji, add one extra character per emoji. The counter warns when text contains multi-unit characters like these.

Mentions, hashtags and alt text

Usernames you mention inside the text, as opposed to the automatic ones at the start of a reply, count in full, including the @. So do hashtags, including the #. Image descriptions, called alt text, have their own separate allowance of up to 1,000 characters per image and do not use the post's 280. Adding alt text makes images usable for people with screen readers and costs nothing from the limit.

Longer posts

Paid subscriptions on X allow much longer posts. But readers in the timeline see only the first part, with a “Show more” link, so the first 280 characters still need to work on their own. For free accounts, a long message becomes a thread: a series of replies to your own post. Number them, such as 1/4, and make each one readable alone.

Writing within the limit

• Lead with the point; the first line decides whether people read on.
• Cut filler: “I just wanted to say that” adds nothing.
• Use numerals instead of words for numbers.
• Replace a list of hashtags with one relevant tag, or none.
• Put a long explanation behind a link rather than squeezing it into a thread.

Other platforms

For Instagram specifics, see Instagram caption and bio limits. For text messages, see SMS character limits.