Platform limits5 min read
Every social media character limit, and the ones that actually bite
The numbers for all ten networks, plus the media rules that reject posts more often than length does.
Optional — the post reads fine without one.
Character limits are the easy part — they are published, stable, and easy to check. The rules that actually reject posts are usually about media.
The limits
- ✓X — 280 characters, 4 images or 1 video, video up to 2m20s
- ✓Bluesky — 300 characters, up to 4 images
- ✓Threads — 500 characters, carousels up to 20, video up to 5m
- ✓Pinterest — 500 characters, image or video required, video 4s–15m
- ✓Google Business — 1,500 characters, one image, posts expire after about a week
- ✓Instagram — 2,200 characters, carousels up to 10, Reels 3s–90s, media required
- ✓TikTok — 2,200 characters, carousels up to 35, video 3s–10m, media required
- ✓LinkedIn — 3,000 characters, up to 9 images, video up to 10m
- ✓Facebook — 5,000 characters, up to 10 images
- ✓YouTube — 5,000-character description, video required, title required
The rules that catch people out
- ✓Instagram rejects a post with no media outright. It is not a warning.
- ✓YouTube requires a title, which nobody writing a cross-network caption thinks to provide separately.
- ✓Reels have a floor as well as a ceiling — a 2-second clip fails.
- ✓Pinterest needs a board, so a pin cannot be created from a caption alone.
- ✓Google Business posts expire, so cadence matters more than volume there.
Where to check them
In whatever you write in, ideally. A limit enforced after you hit schedule is a limit you will hit repeatedly; one enforced as you type is a limit you stop thinking about.