Free tool
Ad Character Counter
Check ad copy against the real field limits on five networks at once: 40 characters for a Meta headline, 30 for a Google Ads headline, 100 for TikTok ad text, 200 for a LinkedIn headline and 100 for a Pinterest title.
Last updated: 2026-08-06
Every ad platform splits your copy into named fields, and every field has its own ceiling. A Meta ad has primary text, a headline and a link description. A Google responsive search ad has up to 15 headlines of 30 characters and 4 descriptions of 90. A LinkedIn single image ad has 3,000 characters of introductory text and a 200 character headline. Paste the same paragraph into all three and two of them reject it.
The limits fall into two kinds and the difference decides how you write. A hard cap is where the platform refuses the ad: a 31 character Google headline cannot be saved, full stop. A visible cap is where the placement truncates: Meta serves all 3,000 characters of primary text but the feed hides everything past roughly 125 behind "See more", and LinkedIn hides everything past roughly 150. Nothing breaks, the ad just stops being read.
That gap is where most ad copy quietly fails. LinkedIn has the widest one in this table, 150 visible against a 3,000 hard cap, which means 95% of a maximum-length LinkedIn ad is invisible unless someone taps. Pinterest shows about the first 40 characters of a 100 character title in the grid. Meta cuts Stories and Reels primary text at about 90, earlier than the 125 it cuts the feed at.
This counter runs your text against the fields of whichever platform you pick, one input per field, and flags four states as you type: it fits, it is inside the last 10% of the usable length, it will be truncated in feed, or it is over the hard cap and will be rejected. Nothing is uploaded, nothing is stored, and there is no email step. For organic captions rather than paid copy, use the social media character counter instead.
Pick the platform you are writing for
Meta (Facebook and Instagram) has 5 copy fields across 2 placements. Limits verified 2026-08-06.
Green means it fits, amber means the placement will truncate it or you are inside the last 10% of the usable length, red means the platform rejects it. Where a field has a visible cap, that is the one counted against, because copy hidden behind "See more" has already failed even though the ad runs.
Facebook and Instagram feed
3 copy fields on this placement.
Hard cap 3,000 characters, about 125 visible before this placement truncates.
0 of 125 charactersvisible cap 125, hard cap 3,000
- Meta truncates rather than rejects: past about 125 characters the feed hides the rest behind "See more".
- Put the offer and the hook in the first line. Everything after the fold is read by people who already decided to keep reading.
Hard cap 40 characters, about 27 visible before this placement truncates.
0 of 27 charactersvisible cap 27, hard cap 40
- Around 27 characters show on a narrow phone before the headline wraps or clips.
Hard cap 30 characters, no truncation, the platform rejects anything longer.
0 of 30 characters
- Not shown on every placement. Treat it as optional support for the headline, never as the place the offer lives.
Stories and Reels
2 copy fields on this placement.
Hard cap 3,000 characters, about 90 visible before this placement truncates.
0 of 90 charactersvisible cap 90, hard cap 3,000
- Stories and Reels overlay the text on the creative and cut it earlier than the feed does.
- Anything past the first line competes with the profile row and the call to action button.
Hard cap 40 characters, about 25 visible before this placement truncates.
0 of 25 charactersvisible cap 25, hard cap 40
- The full-screen placements clip the headline harder than the feed.
Ad copy character limits by platform
The headline, body and description caps on each network, taken from the placement most campaigns actually run. The number after the comma is where that placement truncates: past it the ad still serves, it just stops being read.
| Platform | Headline | Primary text | Description | Placements |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Meta (Facebook and Instagram) | 40 charsAbout 27 visible, Facebook and Instagram feed | 3,000 charsAbout 125 visible, Facebook and Instagram feed | 30 charsNo truncation, Facebook and Instagram feed | Facebook and Instagram feed, Stories and Reels |
| Google Ads | 30 chars x 15No truncation, Responsive search ad | Not a fieldSearch ads carry no body text field. | 90 chars x 4No truncation, Responsive search ad | Responsive search ad, Performance Max asset group |
| TikTok Ads | Not a fieldAd text is the only copy field. | 100 charsNo truncation, In-feed ad | Not a fieldAd text is the only copy field. | In-feed ad, Spark ad |
| LinkedIn Ads | 200 charsAbout 70 visible, Single image ad | 3,000 charsAbout 150 visible, Single image ad | 75 charsNo truncation, Text ad | Single image ad, Text ad |
| Pinterest Ads | 100 charsAbout 40 visible, Promoted Pin | Not a fieldThe description carries the copy. | 500 charsAbout 50 visible, Promoted Pin | Promoted Pin, Idea ad |
Limits verified 2026-08-06. Character limits were checked against each network published ad specifications on 2026-08-06. Hard limits are the point at which an ad is rejected, visible limits are where a placement truncates and are approximate: they move with device width, font size and language. Platforms change these without notice, so check the ad builder before a large launch.
Visible caps and hard caps are two different limits
A hard cap is where the platform refuses the ad: the field stops accepting input, or the upload is rejected on review. You find out immediately, which makes it the harmless one. A visible cap is where the placement truncates. The ad is approved, it serves, you pay for the impressions, and the copy past that point sits behind a "See more" control that most of the feed never taps. Nothing tells you it happened.
That is why the counter above measures against the visible cap wherever a field has one. Copy that is hidden has already failed even though the ad is running, so treating the hard cap as the target is how a 3,000 character ad ends up delivering 150 characters of value. Fields turn amber inside the last 10% of the usable length, amber again once they cross the visible cap, and red only when the platform would reject them outright.
Meta (Facebook and Instagram): primary text shows about 125 of 3,000 characters
On the facebook and instagram feed placement, an ad written to the hard cap has roughly 96% of its copy hidden behind a "more" control. The ad is accepted, delivered and charged for in full either way.
LinkedIn Ads: introductory text shows about 150 of 3,000 characters
On the single image ad placement, an ad written to the hard cap has roughly 95% of its copy hidden behind a "more" control. The ad is accepted, delivered and charged for in full either way.
Pinterest Ads: description shows about 50 of 500 characters
On the promoted pin placement, an ad written to the hard cap has roughly 90% of its copy hidden behind a "more" control. The ad is accepted, delivered and charged for in full either way.
Google Ads and TikTok Ads sit outside this problem entirely: none of their copy fields publish a truncation point, so the hard cap is the only cap. A 30 character Google Ads headline is 30 characters, and the 31st is refused in the builder rather than trimmed in the auction.
Visible counts are approximate on every network. They move with device width, font size, language and whether a link preview is attached, so they are recorded here as the conservative figure each platform publishes as its recommendation rather than as a pixel measurement.
Writing to five sets of limits
- Decide which cap you are writing to before you start. If a field has a visible cap, that is the real limit: 125 characters on Meta primary text and 150 on LinkedIn introductory text, not the 3,000 both of them technically accept.
- Write the tightest platform first. Cutting a 3,000 character LinkedIn intro down to a 30 character Google headline destroys it; writing the 30 character version first and then expanding almost always survives the trip.
- Google is the only network here that never truncates. Search rejects an over-length headline outright, so there is no soft landing: 30 characters means 30, and the ad simply will not save at 31.
- Count assets, not just characters. A responsive search ad wants up to 15 headlines and 4 descriptions, with minimums of 3 and 2, and only three headlines and two descriptions ever show at once. Fifteen near-identical headlines is fifteen ways to say the same thing.
- Check the placement, not just the platform. Meta cuts primary text at about 125 in feed and about 90 in Stories and Reels, and clips the headline at about 27 in feed against about 25 in full screen. One line of copy is not automatically safe everywhere the campaign runs.
- Front-load the offer in every field that truncates. On Meta, LinkedIn and Pinterest the first line is the whole ad for most of the people who see it, and everything after the fold is read only by people who already decided to keep reading.
Frequently asked questions
What is the character limit for a Facebook ad?
Meta ads have three copy fields. Primary text takes up to 3,000 characters but the feed shows about 125 before a "See more" link hides the rest, and Stories and Reels cut it at about 90. The headline is 40 characters, of which about 27 show in feed. The link description is 30 characters and is not displayed on every placement.
What is the Google Ads headline character limit?
Thirty characters per headline, and a responsive search ad takes up to 15 of them with a minimum of 3. Descriptions are 90 characters each, up to 4 with a minimum of 2, and the two optional display paths are 15 characters each. Google enforces these in the builder: an over-length headline cannot be saved, it is never truncated at serve time.
Which ad platform gives you the most copy?
Meta and LinkedIn tie on the hard cap at 3,000 characters of body copy, but that is not the useful comparison. On visible length LinkedIn is the most generous at about 150 characters before the desktop feed collapses the ad, Meta shows about 125 in feed, TikTok caps ad text at 100 characters outright, and Pinterest shows about 40 characters of title in the grid.
What happens if my ad copy is too long?
It depends which cap you crossed. Past a hard cap the platform rejects the ad or the field stops accepting input, so you find out immediately. Past a visible cap the ad runs normally and the placement truncates the display, usually behind "See more" or an ellipsis, so you find out only when the copy underperforms and nobody can tell you why.
Do emoji count as characters in ad copy?
They count, and on some networks they are worse than that. TikTok blocks emoji and several special characters in ad text on a number of placements, so plain text is the only thing guaranteed to pass review. Where emoji are allowed they still spend characters, and a decorative emoji at the front of a 40 character Meta headline is a real cost.
Is this different from a caption character counter?
Yes, and the numbers are not interchangeable. This tool measures paid fields: headlines, primary text, descriptions and display paths, each with its own cap. Organic posts are one long caption field with hashtag and mention caps on top, so for an Instagram, X or LinkedIn post use the social media character counter instead.
Write it once, ship it to all five
Postify Ads builds and launches campaigns across Meta, Google, TikTok, LinkedIn and Pinterest from one place, with each platform's copy fields in front of you as you write them. The counter above checks the limits; this is where the ad goes live.
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