Cut text down to a fixed number of characters, words or sentences. It backs up to the last whole word, adds an ellipsis if you want one, and can shorten every line of a list at once, which is handy for meta descriptions, product titles, previews and SMS.
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How to use the Text Truncator
Paste your text or a list with one item per line. An example is loaded so you can see how it works.
Choose the unit and limit: characters, words or sentences, and the maximum number to keep. Presets fill in common limits.
Pick whole text or each line. Each line truncates every line on its own, ideal for titles, CSV columns and product names.
Set the ending: ellipsis style, whether it counts toward the limit, and whether words may be cut.
Copy or download the shortened text. The report shows which lines were cut and by how much.
How the truncation works
For a character limit N with an ending E (such as …), the tool keeps at most N − length(E) characters of your text when the ending counts toward the limit, or N characters when it does not. With Don't cut words on, the cut moves back to the last space before that point, trailing spaces and dangling separators (comma, semicolon, colon, dash) are removed, and then the ending is added. The final string is therefore never longer than N characters, but it is often a little shorter, because the remaining part of the last word is dropped.
Example with a 40 character limit and …: Our handmade oak cutting boards are finished with food-safe oil becomes Our handmade oak cutting boards are… (36 characters), not Our handmade oak cutting boards are fin….
Word limits keep the first N words (a word is any run of characters between spaces, so "food-safe" is one word) and sentence limits keep the first N complete sentences. Middle truncation splits the allowance in half, keeping the first half from the start and the second half from the end.
Common length limits
Platforms change their limits and some truncate by pixel width rather than characters, so treat these as practical guidelines and check the platform's current documentation for hard limits.
Where the text goes
Typical limit
Notes
Search result title (title tag)
about 50–60 characters
Search engines cut by display width (around 600 px), so wide letters fit fewer.
Meta description
about 150–160 characters
Longer descriptions are usually shortened with an ellipsis in results.
Single SMS (GSM-7 characters)
160 characters
Emoji or some accented letters switch to UCS-2 encoding, which allows 70.
Post on X (standard account)
280 characters
Links count as 23; emoji and CJK characters count as 2.
Responsive search ad headline
30 characters
Descriptions allow 90 characters.
Push notification preview
roughly 40–120 characters
Varies with device, OS and screen width.
Tips for better shortened text
Put the most important words first. Truncation always removes the end, so lead with the product name, the keyword or the action.
Use the single … character when space is tight; it saves two characters compared with three periods.
For file names, paths and IDs, use Middle so both the folder and the file name stay visible.
Shortening a spreadsheet column? Copy the column, choose Each line separately, and paste the result back. Empty cells stay as empty lines, so rows stay aligned.
How do I shorten text without cutting a word in half?
Keep Don't cut words switched on. The tool takes the first N characters, and if that point falls inside a word it moves back to the previous space, then adds the ellipsis. If the text has no space before the limit (for example one very long URL), it cuts at the exact character limit so you still get a result.
Does the ellipsis count toward the character limit?
Only when Ellipsis counts toward the limit is ticked, which is the default. Then a 160 character limit with "…" keeps at most 159 characters of text plus the ellipsis, so the final string is never longer than 160. Untick it if your limit applies to the text alone.
What is the difference between … and ...?
The single ellipsis character (…, Unicode U+2026) counts as one character, while three periods count as three. Use … when every character matters, such as in title tags, SMS or ad text, and ... when the destination only accepts plain ASCII.
How are characters counted for emoji and accents?
The tool counts user-perceived characters (grapheme clusters) when your browser supports it, so an emoji like 👍🏽 or a letter with a combining accent counts as one character and is never split. Some platforms count differently; X, for example, weighs emoji and CJK characters as two.
How does sentence truncation decide where a sentence ends?
It uses your browser's built-in sentence segmenter, which understands periods, question marks, exclamation marks and closing quotes, and handles many abbreviations. In older browsers a simpler rule is used: a sentence ends at . ! ? or … followed by a space or the end of the text.
Can I truncate a whole list at once?
Yes. Choose Each line separately and every line is shortened on its own with the same rules. Empty lines are kept so the line count stays the same, which makes it safe to paste the result back into a spreadsheet column.
What does middle truncation do?
It keeps the beginning and the end and puts the ellipsis in the middle, for example a long file path becomes "C:/Projects/…/final-report.pdf". This is useful when the end of the text, such as a file name or an ID, is as important as the start.
Are all the tools on FreeToolCabin tested for quality and accuracy?
Yes! Every tool on our site undergoes automated Q/A testing in real browser environments to ensure high precision, correct output, and zero errors. If you happen to spot a bug or have a suggestion, please contact us at [email protected] and our team will review it right away.