Free Meta ads tool
Facebook and Instagram Ad Character Counter
A Meta ad has three copy fields: 3,000 characters of primary text that the feed cuts at about 125, a 40 character headline that clips at about 27, and a 30 character link description.
Last updated: 2026-08-06
Meta ad copy is written into three fields in Ads Manager and each one behaves differently once the ad is live. Primary text is the paragraph above the creative. The headline is the bold line under it. The link description is a short supporting line that some placements show and many do not.
Only one of those numbers is a wall. Primary text inherits the organic post ceiling, which is why 3,000 is recorded here as a conservative working cap rather than a documented rejection point, and you will never reach it anyway: the feed collapses primary text behind "See more" at roughly 125 characters. Stories and Reels cut it earlier still, at about 90, because the text overlays the creative and competes with the profile row and the call to action button.
The headline is 40 characters and about 27 of them survive on a narrow phone in feed, dropping to about 25 in Stories and Reels. That is the field most people overwrite: a 40 character headline that reads perfectly in the Ads Manager preview loses its last three words on the device it actually ships to. The 30 character link description is optional support for the headline, never the place the offer lives.
This counter checks all of it per placement, so a line that fits the feed but breaks in Reels shows up before the campaign does. It flags four states: fits, close to the limit, will be truncated, and over the hard cap. For organic Facebook or Instagram captions, which are one long field with their own hashtag and mention caps, use the social media character counter instead.
Meta (Facebook and Instagram) copy fields
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.
Meta (Facebook and Instagram) character limits, field by field
Every copy field Meta (Facebook and Instagram) accepts, grouped by placement. The hard cap is where the ad is rejected or the field stops taking input. The visible cap is where the placement truncates: the ad still runs, it just stops being read past that point.
Meta (Facebook and Instagram): Facebook and Instagram feed
| Field | Hard cap | Visible | How many |
|---|---|---|---|
| Primary text | 3,000 chars | About 125 chars | One |
| Headline | 40 chars | About 27 chars | One |
| Link description | 30 chars | No truncation published | One |
- Primary text: Meta truncates rather than rejects: past about 125 characters the feed hides the rest behind "See more".
- Primary text: Put the offer and the hook in the first line. Everything after the fold is read by people who already decided to keep reading.
- Headline: Around 27 characters show on a narrow phone before the headline wraps or clips.
- Link description: Not shown on every placement. Treat it as optional support for the headline, never as the place the offer lives.
Meta (Facebook and Instagram): Stories and Reels
| Field | Hard cap | Visible | How many |
|---|---|---|---|
| Primary text | 3,000 chars | About 90 chars | One |
| Headline | 40 chars | About 25 chars | One |
- Primary text: Stories and Reels overlay the text on the creative and cut it earlier than the feed does.
- Primary text: Anything past the first line competes with the profile row and the call to action button.
- Headline: The full-screen placements clip the headline harder than the feed.
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.
How Meta (Facebook and Instagram) compares to the other ad platforms
Where Meta (Facebook and Instagram) sits against the other four networks on the three fields every ad builder asks for. 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)This page | 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.
Meta (Facebook and Instagram) copy tips
- Write primary text to 125 characters, not to 3,000. That is roughly one strong sentence, and it is everything the feed shows before "See more" swallows the rest.
- Write a second, shorter opening if the campaign runs in Stories and Reels. Those placements cut primary text at about 90 characters, 35 fewer than the feed, and full screen placements are where the fold hurts most.
- Keep the headline inside about 27 characters even though Meta accepts 40. The last 13 characters are the ones a narrow phone drops, so they can carry emphasis but never meaning.
- Do not put the offer in the 30 character link description. It is not shown on every placement, so anything that only exists there is invisible to part of your audience.
- Count the emoji. A flag or a skin tone variant can be several code points, and a decorative emoji at the front of a 40 character headline costs the same as a short word that could have been doing work.
- Check the copy against the placement mix in the ad set, not against the preview you happen to be looking at. Advantage+ placements put the same ad into feed, Stories and Reels, each with a different cut.
Frequently asked questions
What is the character limit for Facebook ad primary text?
Primary text takes up to 3,000 characters, but that ceiling is inherited from the organic post field rather than published as an ad rejection point. The number that matters is about 125 characters, which is where the feed truncates and drops in a "See more" link. Stories and Reels cut earlier, at about 90.
How many characters is a Facebook ad headline?
Forty characters. Around 27 of them show on a narrow phone in feed before the headline wraps or clips, and full screen placements clip harder still at around 25. Meta warns at 40 in the builder, so treat it as a hard cap and 27 as the working one.
Are Instagram ad limits different from Facebook ad limits?
No. Instagram and Facebook ads are built in the same Ads Manager fields with the same caps: 3,000 characters of primary text, a 40 character headline and a 30 character link description. What differs is the placement, and Instagram campaigns lean much harder on Stories and Reels, where primary text cuts at about 90 rather than 125.
What is the Facebook ad link description limit?
Thirty characters. It sits under the headline as supporting text and it is not rendered on every placement, so treat it as optional reinforcement. Anything essential belongs in the headline or in the first line of primary text.
Does Meta reject ads that are too long?
For the headline and description, effectively yes: the builder warns at 40 and 30 and most placements cut well before those points. For primary text Meta truncates rather than rejects, so a 900 character paragraph runs perfectly happily and is simply hidden past about 125 characters in feed.
Is there still a 20 percent text rule on ad images?
No. Meta retired the hard 20 percent text-in-image restriction, so an image heavy with text is no longer rejected outright. Text density can still affect delivery and cost, and none of that touches the copy fields measured here, which are counted independently of anything on the creative.
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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