Character Counter
Count characters as you type — with spaces, without spaces, and alongside words, lines and sentences. Useful for anything with a hard character limit.
How it works
Characters are counted by their visible units, not by bytes. An emoji or an accented letter counts as one character here, even though it may occupy several bytes in a file — that is the number a form's character limit usually enforces.
The count without spaces subtracts every whitespace character, including tabs and line breaks, which is the figure most style guides mean by “characters excluding spaces”.
The formula
Characters
count of visible characters, including spaces
Characters (no spaces)
characters − all whitespace
Worked examples
| Scenario | Working | Result |
|---|---|---|
| “Hello world” | 11 characters, 1 space | 11 with spaces, 10 without |
| A meta description | Target is roughly 155 characters | Watch the with-spaces figure |
| An emoji | 🙂 is one visible character | Counts as 1 |
When you'd use it
- Fitting a meta description, title tag or ad headline
- Staying inside a social bio or post limit
- Checking a database field will accept a value
- Counting SMS length before sending
Common questions
Do spaces count towards a character limit?
Almost always yes. Meta descriptions, tweets, SMS messages and most form fields count spaces. Use the with-spaces figure unless you have been told otherwise.
How are emoji and accented letters counted?
As one character each, because that is what a reader sees. Note that some systems count bytes instead, where an emoji can take four — if a form rejects text this tool says fits, that is usually why.
Is my text uploaded anywhere?
No. The whole tool runs in your browser, so what you paste never leaves your device. That matters when the text is a draft, a transcript or anything covered by an NDA.