Twitter X Character Counter, Count & Preview Your Post
This Twitter X character counter uses the platform’s real weighted counting rules, URLs, emoji, and wide characters included, so your count matches what X actually enforces. See a live post preview and automatically split long text into a numbered thread, no sign up needed.
If your text is over 280 counted characters, split it into numbered posts (1/n, 2/n…) at word boundaries.
How the Twitter/X Character Counter Works
This Twitter/X character counter doesn’t just count letters, it replicates X’s actual weighted counting algorithm, the same logic that determines whether your post fits within the 280 character limit. A plain text character counter will often give you a different, wrong number.
Two rules make X’s counting different from a simple length check. First, every URL, no matter how long, is automatically shortened to a t.co link and counts as exactly 23 characters. Second, “wide” characters, including CJK (Chinese, Japanese, Korean) text and most emoji, count as 2 characters each instead of 1, since they take up roughly double the visual and byte width of standard Latin characters.
Everything is calculated locally in your browser as you type, nothing you write is sent to a server.
What This Tool Does
How to Use It
Start typing
Write your post in the text box, the counter and preview update live as you go.
Watch the ring
The circular progress ring turns amber near the limit and red once you’ve gone over.
Check the preview
See roughly how your post will look laid out before you publish it.
Split if needed
For longer text, click Split Into Thread to break it into numbered posts automatically.
The Weighted Counting Rules
Every link is auto-shortened to a t.co URL and counts as exactly 23 characters, whether it’s 15 characters long or 200.
Regular Latin letters, numbers, and punctuation each count as a single character, as expected.
Chinese, Japanese, Korean characters and most emoji count double, since they occupy roughly twice the display width.
FAQ: Twitter/X Character Counter
X automatically wraps every link you post in a t.co shortened URL for tracking and security scanning, regardless of how short your original link already was. That wrapped link is a fixed length, so even a link like “x.co/a” counts the same 23 characters as a very long one. This is why this counter always applies the 23 character weight to any detected URL rather than the actual text length.
Standard accounts are limited to 280 weighted characters per post, which is what this tool checks against. X Premium (paid) subscribers have access to a much higher limit, up to 25,000 characters for longer form posts, though the standard 280 limit remains the default most people plan around and is what this tool is built for.
Most emoji live outside the basic Unicode range used by standard Latin text, in ranges the platform classifies as “wide,” similar to how CJK characters are treated. X applies the same double weighting to these characters to keep post length roughly consistent with their visual and technical footprint, since a single emoji can require more storage and rendering space than a standard letter.
No, @mentions count as regular text, one character per character, they are not shortened or weighted specially the way URLs are. This tool treats @handles the same as any other typed text in the counting logic.
It splits your text at word boundaries, never mid-word, and reserves a small buffer of characters in each post for the “(1/5)” style counter suffix, using the same weighted counting rules as the main counter. It’s a very close approximation to a manually planned thread, though always do a final read through before posting, since context and flow across posts is something only a human can judge well.
No, hashtags are counted as regular text, character by character including the # symbol, they receive no special shortening or weighting treatment, unlike URLs. A hashtag like #MondayMotivation simply counts each of its characters normally.
This tool implements the publicly documented core rules of X’s counting algorithm, URL shortening and wide character weighting, which covers the vast majority of real world cases accurately. X’s exact internal implementation includes some additional edge case handling for unusual Unicode sequences that isn’t fully documented publicly, so extremely rare character combinations could occasionally produce a count off by a character or two.
No, this tool has no connection to X’s posting API, it does not publish anything on your behalf, and it does not store, log, or transmit anything you type. All counting happens locally in your browser.