2,200 characters. That is the most an Instagram caption can hold. You can also use up to 30 hashtags in it.
What counts
- Every letter, space, line break and hashtag counts toward the 2,200.
- Links in a caption do not click. Put a link in your bio instead.
- A Story has no caption at all. Text you type for a Story is not sent.
What happens if you go over
- Instagram refuses a caption over the limit.
- sprkly does not cut your text for you. A cut caption could lose its last line without you seeing it.
- So trim it yourself before it is due.
How Compose helps
- Compose counts your caption as you type.
- The count turns amber near the limit and red when you are over.
- It never blocks the Schedule button. It warns you.
- One caption for several platforms? The count uses the tightest limit you picked. With Threads picked, that is 500.
How long can an Instagram DM be?
- About 1,000 characters of plain text.
- Meta counts bytes, not letters. A plain letter is one byte. An emoji can be four, so emoji fill a DM faster.
Limits on the other platforms
- TikTok video: 2,200 characters.
- TikTok photo post: 4,000 characters.
- Threads: 500 characters.
- YouTube description: 5,000 bytes. An emoji uses 4. Title: 100.
- Facebook Page post: 63,206 characters.
Long on Instagram, short on Threads
- You do not have to pick one caption for all.
- Write a long caption for Instagram and a short one for Threads in the same post.
- A caption written for each place reads better than one pasted everywhere.
Do it in sprkly: In Compose, open the Instagram box under your main caption and give Instagram its own caption. Watch the counter as you write.
Docs: sprkly docs