X Post Character Counter
Count characters exactly the way X (Twitter) does, see what goes over 280, and split long text into a numbered thread.
Thread splitter
Long text? Split it into posts that fit. Put --- on its own line to force a break.
How to use the X Post Character Counter
- Type or paste your post. The ring and counter show how many of your 280 characters you've used.
- Watch the highlight. Anything past the limit turns red, so you know exactly what to cut.
- Too long? Open the thread splitter. Your text is split into posts that fit, broken at sentence ends where possible, with optional 1/5-style numbering.
- Copy each post (or all of them) and paste them into X.
How X counts characters
| What you type | Counts as | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Latin letters, numbers, spaces, most punctuation | 1 each | Hello! = 6 |
| Accented and Cyrillic, Greek, Arabic, Hebrew letters | 1 each | Привет = 6 |
| Emoji (including combined emoji and flags) | 2 each | 👍 = 2, 👨👩👧 = 2 |
| Chinese, Japanese and Korean characters | 2 each | こんにちは = 10 |
| Any link | 23 | freetoolcabin.com = 23 |
| Line breaks | 1 each |
That's why a post full of emoji or written in Japanese fills up faster than one in English. A 280-character limit gives you about 140 Chinese, Japanese or Korean characters.
Tips for writing a great thread
- Make the first post a strong hook: it's the only one most people see in their timeline.
- Keep one idea per post. Use
---on its own line to decide exactly where posts break. - Numbering such as 1/5 tells readers how long the thread is and helps if posts get separated.
- Put links near the end of a post, since they always use 23 characters.
Frequently asked questions
How many characters can a post on X have?
Standard accounts can post up to 280 characters. X Premium subscribers can write longer posts of up to 25,000 characters, but only the first 280 are shown in the timeline before 'Show more'.
Why does my emoji count as 2 characters?
X gives each character a weight. Latin letters, numbers and most punctuation count as 1. Emoji, and Chinese, Japanese and Korean characters count as 2. A combined emoji such as a family or a flag with skin tone still counts as 2.
How are links counted on X?
Every link counts as 23 characters, no matter how long or short it is, because X shortens all links with its t.co service.
Do @mentions and #hashtags count?
Yes. Mentions and hashtags count as normal text, including the @ and # symbols.
How does the thread splitter work?
It fills each post as much as possible, prefers to break at the end of a sentence or paragraph, never cuts a link in half, and leaves room for the numbering. Put --- on its own line to force a new post at that point.
Is this the same count X shows?
It follows X's published counting rules (twitter-text version 3), so the result matches X for almost all posts. Unusual link formats may be detected slightly differently.