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Burrows Tools

Character Counter

Paste or type your text and this character counter updates instantly, showing the total number of characters with spaces, without spaces, and the number of letters, digits, and lines. It is built for the moments when a limit matters: a 280-character post, a 160-character SMS segment, a meta description that Google will truncate past roughly 160 characters, or a database column that will silently reject anything longer. Counting happens entirely in your browser, so nothing you paste is uploaded, logged, or stored anywhere. There is no signup, no character limit of our own, and no delay between typing and seeing the count. If you care about words, sentences, and paragraphs rather than raw characters, the word counter is the better tool for that job.

Characters
0with spaces
Without spaces
0
Letters
0
Digits
0
Words
0
Lines
0

0 characters, 0 without spaces

How to use the character counter

  1. Type into the box, or paste text you already have.
  2. Read the character count as it updates on every keystroke.
  3. Use the count with spaces for most limits, and the count without spaces when a style guide asks for it.
  4. Copy the text back out when you have trimmed it to size.

Frequently asked questions

Do spaces count as characters?
Usually yes. Twitter/X, SMS, and meta descriptions all count spaces, so the 'with spaces' number is the one you normally want. The counter shows both so you can match whichever rule you have been given.
How are emoji counted?
Emoji are counted the way browsers see them. Many emoji are made of several code units, and skin-tone or flag emoji are made of several code points joined together, so a single emoji can add more than one to a raw character count. This tool counts visible characters rather than raw code units, which matches what most platforms report.
Is my text sent to a server?
No. The counting runs in JavaScript in your own browser. Nothing you type leaves your device, and nothing is saved after you close the tab.
What is the character limit for a meta description?
There is no hard limit, but Google typically truncates snippets at roughly 155 to 160 characters on desktop and less on mobile. Aiming for 150 to 160 characters is a safe target.

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