Why Character Count Matters
Knowing your character count isn't just useful — in many contexts it's essential. Here are the most common situations where it comes up:
- Social media: Twitter/X caps posts at 280 characters. LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram all have their own limits for posts, headlines, and bios.
- SEO: Google truncates meta titles beyond roughly 60 characters and meta descriptions beyond around 155–160. Going over means your snippet gets cut in search results.
- Advertising: Google Ads allows only 30 characters per headline and 90 per description. Facebook and LinkedIn ads have similar constraints.
- SMS: A standard SMS message is 160 characters. Any text beyond that gets split into multiple messages, which may affect delivery and cost.
- Academic writing: Some institutions — particularly in Europe — set character limits rather than word limits for abstracts, summaries, and certain assignments.
- App store listings: App Store and Google Play impose character limits on app names, subtitles, and descriptions.
- Databases and forms: Developers and content managers sometimes need to verify text fits within a VARCHAR field or a CMS character limit before publishing.
💡 Quick note on counting method: Most digital platforms count characters including spaces. Unless your submission guidelines specifically say "without spaces," assume spaces count toward your total.
Characters vs. Words — Understanding the Difference
These two measurements are related but distinct, and mixing them up leads to problems.
A character is any single unit of text: a letter, digit, space, punctuation mark, emoji, or symbol. The sentence "Good morning." contains 13 characters (including the space and period).
A word is a sequence of characters surrounded by spaces. "Good morning." is 2 words but 13 characters.
Digital platforms almost universally use character limits. Word limits are more common in academic writing. If you're writing for a platform or submitting to a system with defined rules, always confirm which measure applies — they're not interchangeable.
Option 1: Free Online Character Counter
Online character counter tools
The quickest approach for most people is to paste text into a dedicated web-based character counter. Results appear as you type — no buttons to press, no software to install, and they work in any browser on any device.
Good online tools display several metrics at once: characters with spaces, characters without spaces, word count, sentence count, and sometimes paragraph count. That makes them useful when you need to satisfy multiple constraints at the same time — for instance, keeping a meta title under 60 characters while also checking the word count for internal guidelines.
Notable options include Websitewordcounter.com/character-counter, CharacterCountOnline, and WordCounter.net — all free, all require no account.
- Instant results — no clicking, just paste and read
- Works on desktop, tablet, and mobile
- Most show both "with spaces" and "without spaces" counts
- Useful for text outside any word processor (social posts, ad copy, form fields)
✅ Best for: Quick, one-off checks. Writing social posts, meta descriptions, ad copy, or any text that doesn't live inside a word processor.
Option 2: Microsoft Word
Microsoft Word — built-in Word Count dialog
If you're writing a longer document in Word, its built-in Word Count dialog is the most thorough option available in any mainstream word processor. It reports character counts alongside word count, paragraph count, and line count — and it's been part of Word for decades, so it's well-tested and reliable.
- Click the Review tab → Word Count
- Or press Ctrl + Shift + G on Windows, ⌘ + Shift + W on Mac
- The dialog shows Characters (no spaces) and Characters (with spaces) separately
- To count a specific section, select the text first, then open Word Count
- Shows both "with spaces" and "without spaces" counts — the most complete character breakdown of any word processor
- Can count selected text only, useful for checking individual paragraphs or sections
- Option to include or exclude footnotes and endnotes
- The status bar at the bottom of the window also shows a live word count
✅ Best for: Long-form writing — dissertations, reports, academic papers — where you're already working inside Word and need a thorough character breakdown.
Option 3: Google Docs
Google Docs — Word Count feature
Google Docs includes a word and character count dialog accessible from the Tools menu. It's free with any Google account and works in any browser — making it a solid option for collaborative documents or anyone who doesn't have Microsoft Office.
- Click Tools in the menu bar → Word Count
- Or press Ctrl + Shift + C on Windows, ⌘ + Shift + C on Mac
- To count specific text, select it first before opening the dialog
- Enable "Display word count while typing" for a live counter at the bottom of the screen
- Completely free with a Google account
- Live counter option updates as you type
- Works on any device with a browser, including smartphones
- Supports counting selected text only
⚠️ Limitation: Google Docs shows total character count but does not provide a separate "characters without spaces" figure. If you specifically need that count, use Microsoft Word or an online tool instead.
Option 4: Notepad++ and Plain Text Editors
Notepad++ (Windows) / CotEditor (Mac)
Notepad++ is a free, lightweight text and code editor for Windows that displays a character count in its status bar. It's a favourite among developers and technical writers who work with plain text files and need to check string lengths quickly without opening a full word processor.
The character count updates in real time as you type or select text. Selecting a portion of text shows the count just for that selection — useful for checking individual strings or field values.
- Free, lightweight, no Microsoft account required
- Live character count always visible in the status bar
- Select text to count a specific portion
- Ideal for developers checking database field lengths or JSON string sizes
On macOS, CotEditor (free, App Store) and BBEdit (freemium) offer similar functionality. VS Code also shows character count for selected text in the bottom status bar.
✅ Best for: Developers and technical users working with plain text, code, or data files who want a fast desktop option without opening a browser.
Option 5: Platform Native Counters
Built-in counters on social media and ad platforms
Most social platforms and advertising systems show a live character counter while you're composing content. These are the most accurate counters for their respective platforms — they apply the exact same rules the platform uses, including how they handle URLs, mentions, hashtags, and emojis.
- Twitter/X: Remaining character count shown in the compose window; URLs always count as 23
- LinkedIn: Counter appears on posts, headlines, and bio fields
- Google Ads: Live character and recommended-length indicators as you type each headline and description
- Facebook: Character counter on ad copy fields
- Instagram: Caption counter visible while composing
The drawback is that these only work when composing directly on the platform. Many writers draft content in a separate tool first, then paste in — in which case a standalone character counter is more practical.
✅ Best for: Final verification before posting. Use a standalone tool for drafting, then the native counter to confirm before you publish.
Side-by-Side Comparison
Here's how the main options stack up across the criteria that matter most:
| Tool | Cost | With & Without Spaces | Mobile | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Online character counter | Free | ✓ Both | ✓ | Quick checks, any device |
| Microsoft Word | Paid (M365) | ✓ Both | Limited | Long documents |
| Google Docs | Free | ~ With spaces only | ✓ | Collaborative writing |
| Notepad++ | Free | ✓ Both | ✗ Windows only | Developers, plain text |
| Platform native | Free | Total only | ✓ | Final check before posting |
Characters With vs. Without Spaces
Most character counter tools report two figures. Understanding the difference helps you use the right number for your context.
Characters with spaces
This counts every character in your text: letters, numbers, punctuation, symbols, and all whitespace (spaces, tabs, line breaks). This is the standard measure for almost all digital contexts — social media platforms, ad systems, SMS, and most CMS character limits all count spaces as characters.
Characters without spaces
This strips all whitespace characters before counting, leaving only letters, numbers, and punctuation. This is used in some academic submission guidelines (particularly in German and Scandinavian universities for thesis abstracts) and by some publishers for estimating typeset text length. It's less common in everyday digital writing.
💡 Example: The phrase "character count" is 15 characters with spaces and 14 characters without spaces — the single space between the words accounts for the difference. In longer texts, the gap between the two counts grows significantly.
A note on emojis
Emojis add complexity because many of them use multiple Unicode code points. A single emoji can count as 1, 2, or even more characters depending on the tool's Unicode handling. Twitter specifically counts most standard emojis as 2 characters. If you're writing emoji-heavy text for a platform, always verify against the platform's native counter — don't rely solely on a third-party tool.
Character Limits Quick Reference
Use these figures as a reference alongside whichever counting tool you choose. Keep in mind that some platforms measure "pixels" rather than strict character counts for titles, which means narrow characters (like "i") use less space than wide characters (like "W") — the numbers below are practical approximations.
Frequently Asked Questions
Paste your text into a free online character counter — results appear instantly without any button presses. Most tools show characters with spaces, characters without spaces, word count, and sentence count in one view. No account or software installation is needed, and they work on any device with a browser.
Go to Review → Word Count, or press Ctrl + Shift + G on Windows (⌘ + Shift + W on Mac). The dialog shows both "Characters (no spaces)" and "Characters (with spaces)" — the most complete breakdown of any mainstream word processor. Select specific text first to count just that portion.
Yes. Go to Tools → Word Count or press Ctrl + Shift + C (Windows) / ⌘ + Shift + C (Mac). Google Docs shows total characters (with spaces) but doesn't display a "without spaces" figure separately. Enable "Display word count while typing" for a persistent live counter at the bottom of the page.
Differences usually stem from how tools handle emojis, smart quotes, hidden formatting characters, and line breaks. Emojis are the most common source of discrepancy — a single emoji can count as 1, 2, or more characters depending on Unicode encoding. For social media, always treat the platform's native counter as the authoritative source, since it applies the same counting rules the platform actually uses.
"Characters with spaces" counts everything — letters, numbers, punctuation, and all whitespace. "Characters without spaces" strips out spaces, tabs, and line breaks before counting. For most digital use cases (social media, ad platforms, CMS fields, SMS), spaces count — so "with spaces" is the right figure to use. "Without spaces" appears mainly in European academic submission guidelines and some publishing contexts.
Open any free online character counter in your mobile browser, paste or type your text, and read the results — they appear instantly. Google Docs on mobile also shows character count via the three-dot menu → Word Count. For social media posts, simply use the platform's own compose window, which shows a live counter.
Twitter counts characters including spaces. Its 280-character limit applies to the full text of your tweet. URLs are automatically shortened and always count as exactly 23 characters, regardless of their original length. Most standard emojis count as 2 characters on Twitter due to Unicode encoding.
PDFs don't have a native character count feature. The simplest approach: open the PDF, select all text (Ctrl + A), copy it (Ctrl + C), and paste it into any character counter tool. For multi-page documents, a dedicated PDF word counter tool can extract and count the text automatically without manual copying.