Social Media Character Limits for X, LinkedIn, Instagram and Threads (2026)

The limits at a glance

X: weighted characters

X does not count characters one for one. Any link counts as 23 characters no matter how long it is. Emoji and characters from languages such as Chinese, Japanese and Korean count as 2. Everything else counts as 1.

That is why a post that looks like 270 characters can be over the limit: add a long link and three emoji and the weighted total passes 280. PostGP shows the weighted count in the editor, so the number you see is the number X uses. For longer ideas, split the text into a thread of up to 25 posts.

Threads: bytes, not characters

Threads text is limited to 500, and PostGP measures it in UTF-8 bytes to stay safely under the limit. Plain English letters are 1 byte each. Accented letters take 2 bytes, many Asian characters take 3, and emoji take 4.

A post with 40 rocket emoji is only 40 characters but 160 bytes. In PostGP's Threads editor, a short phrase repeated with a rocket emoji each time can read 630/500 bytes, even though it looks brief.

LinkedIn: the limit is not the real constraint

LinkedIn allows 3,000 characters, but readers see only the first few lines, roughly 210 characters, before the see more link. Most people never expand it. The practical limit is therefore the opening: write a hook that works on its own, and treat the other 2,790 characters as a bonus for people who click.

Instagram: caption and hashtags

The caption limit is 2,200 characters, and a post can carry at most 30 hashtags. The editor shows both counters, one for hashtags and one for characters. Long captions are cut off after a couple of lines in the feed, so lead with the part you want read.

How PostGP prevents limit failures

Every counter above is live in the editor, and exceeding any limit shows an error and keeps the Schedule button disabled. You cannot schedule a post that is certain to be rejected. For media limits such as file sizes, see the media sizes reference.

Frequently asked questions

Why does X say my post is too long when it looks short?

Links count as 23 characters and emoji count as 2, so the weighted length can be higher than what you see.

What is the Threads character limit?

500. PostGP counts UTF-8 bytes, so emoji and non-English characters use more of the limit than plain letters.

What is the LinkedIn post limit?

3,000 characters. Only the first 210 or so appear before see more.

What is the Instagram caption limit?

2,200 characters and at most 30 hashtags.