glossary
Character Limit — Definition
A character limit is the maximum count of characters (graphemes) the platform will accept or display before truncating.
A character limit is the maximum count of characters the platform will accept or display before either rejecting the input or visually truncating it. Most modern social platforms count graphemes — the visual unit a user sees as one character — rather than bytes or code points.
There are two distinct flavors of limit: hard maximum (the input will be rejected past this length) and visible window (the input is accepted but truncated visually). Meta Feed's hard maximum on primary text is 500 characters; the visible window is 125. So you can write up to 500 characters, but only the first 125 are shown by default.
For ad copy planning, the visible window is what matters. The hard maximum is rarely the binding constraint because the post-cutoff text is read by very few viewers anyway. Plan all copy to the visible window of the most restrictive placement in your campaign.
Character limit = grapheme cap before cl… See more
Per-placement limits
| Field | Hard max | Visible before truncate | Warn at |
|---|---|---|---|
| Primary text | 500 | 125 | 110 |
| Headline | 255 | 40 | 27 |
| Description | 200 | 30 | 27 |
Source: https://www.facebook.com/business/ads-guide · Last verified 2026-04-15.
The two-number model
Every field has two numbers: hard max and visible window. The hard max is rarely the binding constraint. The visible window is the operational budget. When in doubt, optimize against the visible window.
FAQ
- How are characters counted?
- By grapheme. Each visible character unit counts as 1, regardless of underlying byte count. Compound emoji typically count as 1 modern grapheme.
- What's the most common character limit on Meta?
- 125 characters visible primary text on Feed. 40 characters visible headline. 30 characters visible description.
- Can I exceed the hard max?
- No. The platform rejects input past the hard max. You can stop yourself at the visible window without ever hitting the hard max.
- Are character limits the same on every placement?
- No. They vary substantially. Stories is the tightest. Feed is the most generous.