YouTube Character Counter
YouTube video titles are limited to 100 characters, but search results truncate at about 60 characters — so the meaningful limit is much tighter. Descriptions get a generous 5,000-character budget. The counter below tracks every visible character.
YouTube Character Limits Cheatsheet
| Field | Character limit |
|---|---|
| Title | 100 |
| Description | 5,000 |
| Comment | 10,000 |
| Channel description | 1,000 |
| Tags (total) | 500 |
| Community post | 6,800 |
Why does YouTube have this character limit?
YouTube's title limit hasn't changed since 2013, and the 60-character search-result truncation hasn't moved either. The platform optimizes for scannable titles that work on both desktop and mobile thumbnails. Internal YouTube data has repeatedly shown that titles under 70 characters drive higher click-through rates than longer ones, even when the title is fully visible.
Tips for Writing Better YouTube Content
1First 60 characters carry the SEO weight
Search results, sidebars, and 'up next' panels all truncate at ~60 characters. Front-load your target keyword and the most clickable detail.
2Descriptions: first 157 characters appear in search
Like a meta description, the first ~157 characters of your YouTube description show up in Google search snippets. Treat them as ad copy.
3Use the full 5,000-character description
YouTube's algorithm reads the entire description for ranking signals. Include relevant keywords, timestamps, links, and a creator bio.
4Tags max at 500 characters TOTAL
Not per tag — total. Use 10–15 specific tags rather than 30 generic ones. Quality beats quantity for the algorithm.
5Chapters need exact formatting
YouTube auto-detects chapters when your description includes timestamps starting at 00:00, each on its own line, in chronological order, with at least 3 chapters.
Need More Than a Character Count?
Our main Character Counter shows word count, sentence count, reading time, and a full statistical breakdown of your text — alongside live character counts for every major platform.
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