Count your LinkedIn characters
Free real-time counter with the 210-character “see more” hook indicator, hashtag hints, and every LinkedIn limit built in.
Quick Answer: All Limits at a Glance
Every LinkedIn character limit, in one table. Bookmark this page - the limits have shifted before and will shift again.
| Field | Limit |
|---|---|
| Post | 3,000 chars |
| Article body | 110,000 chars |
| Profile headline | 220 chars |
| About / Summary | 2,600 chars |
| Connection request note (Premium) | 300 chars |
| Connection request note (Basic) | 200 chars |
| InMail subject | 200 chars |
| InMail body | 1,900 chars |
| Comment | 1,250 chars |
| First name | 20 chars |
| Last name | 40 chars |
| Company page name | 100 chars |
LinkedIn Post Limit (3,000 Characters)
LinkedIn posts can be up to 3,000 characterslong. That's roughly 500 words - enough room for a solid short-form essay or a multi-paragraph story. This limit has been stable since LinkedIn bumped it up from 1,300 in 2020.
But here's the catch nobody writes enough about: the feed only shows the first ~210 characters before truncating with a “see more” link. If your best line lives at character 400, most readers will never see it. That changes how you should write.
Treat the first 210 characters as the whole post. Hook, promise, or payoff - whatever you want readers to walk away with, it needs to land before the cut. Everything after is for the readers you've already earned.
The 210-Character “See More” Hook
LinkedIn's feed truncates posts at approximately 210 characters, replacing the rest with a “see more” link. The exact number shifts with screen size, font size, and device, but 210 is the reliable planning target. Most scrollers never tap “see more.” That clickthrough is earned, not assumed.
Treat those 210 characters like a standalone tweet. The question is blunt: if nobody read past this point, would this post still do its job? If not, rewrite.
Hook patterns that earn the click
- 1. A surprising data point: “73% of LinkedIn posts never get read past line 3.”
- 2. A question that forces a pause: “What's the hardest email you've written this year?”
- 3. A contrarian claim: “Stop using hashtags. Here's what works instead.”
- 4. A tight story opener: “I got fired on a Tuesday. By Friday I had three offers.”
Profile Headline Limit (220 Characters)
Your LinkedIn headline is limited to 220 characters. Since it shows up under your name in every search result, comment, DM preview, and tag mention, it's the piece of copy that works hardest on LinkedIn.
Do not just write your job title. Write what you do, for whom, and the outcome. “Senior Product Manager at Acme” is wasted space. “Product Manager building onboarding flows that convert - ex-Stripe, ex-Uber” earns search traffic and tells visitors why they should keep reading.
Keep the most important phrase in the first 120 characters - some mobile contexts truncate earlier than 220.
About / Summary Limit (2,600 Characters)
The About section (formerly “Summary”) is capped at 2,600 characters. LinkedIn shows roughly the first 350 characters before a “see more” cut - so it has the same hook problem as posts, only longer.
Lead with a sentence that makes the reader think: I want to know more about this person. Not a job description. A micro-story, a unique point of view, or a specific accomplishment with a number attached.
Use all 2,600 characters only if the content earns it. A dense wall of corporate speak is worse than 400 well-chosen characters.
Connection Request Note (200 or 300)
LinkedIn Premium accounts can write connection request notes of up to 300 characters. Basic (free) accounts are limited to 200 characters. If you're not sure which tier you have, write for 200.
Counterintuitively, shorter notes often convert better. A specific, 1-2 sentence reason to connect (“Loved your post on pricing - would love to follow your work”) beats a paragraph of generic pleasantries every time.
Avoid copy-paste templates. LinkedIn users can spot them in 2 seconds and the accept rate tanks.
InMail Limits (200 Subject + 1,900 Body)
InMail subjects are capped at 200 characters. Bodies can be up to 1,900 characters - but the best-responding InMails are well under 400 body characters. Long InMails feel like mass outreach; short ones feel personal.
Structure: subject is a specific reason (not “Quick question”). First line is why them. Second line is your ask. Third line is a frictionless next step. That's it.
All Other LinkedIn Limits
- Comments (1,250 characters): Comments on posts, reply comments on comments. The highest-engagement comments are 1-3 sentences with a reaction or follow-up question.
- Article body (110,000 characters): Native LinkedIn articles support up to ~110,000 characters (roughly 18,000 words). Most top-performing articles sit between 1,500 and 2,000 words - dense enough to be valuable, short enough to finish.
- First name (20 characters) / Last name (40 characters): Profile fields. Some users add credentials (“MBA”, “PhD”) inside the name field, though LinkedIn officially asks you to put those in a separate field.
- Company page name (100 characters): For company pages. Shows up in every post from the page and in all search results.
- Event description: Approximately 5,000 characters for LinkedIn Events.
Hashtag Strategy (Use 3-5)
LinkedIn's own guidance is 3 to 5 targeted hashtagsper post. More than 5 dilutes the topic signal the algorithm uses to place your post in feeds. Fewer than 3 and you're not giving the algorithm enough to work with.
Niche beats generic. #SaaSFounders reaches 20,000 engaged people; #business reaches 50 million disengaged ones.
A working hashtag pattern
- 1 broad industry tag (
#Marketing) - 2-3 mid-size niche tags (
#B2BMarketing,#ContentStrategy) - 1 small community tag (under 50K followers)
- Skip generic tags like
#businessor#success
How to Write Better LinkedIn Posts
Open with a standalone hook
First 210 characters have to earn the “see more” click. Lead with a question, a surprising number, a contrarian claim, or a one-line story opener.
Use line breaks as punctuation
Short paragraphs of 1-2 sentences with blank lines between them read faster and keep scrollers scrolling. Walls of text get skipped.
Pick 3-5 targeted hashtags
LinkedIn's own recommendation. Niche beats generic - #SaaSFounders beats #business every time.
Emojis as punctuation, not decoration
One or two well-placed emojis anchor the eye. Five in a row reads as spam.
Close with a question or CTA
Last line should tell readers what to do next - agree/disagree, save, answer, click. A flat ending leaves engagement on the table.
Count your LinkedIn characters before you post
Real-time counter with the 210-character “see more” hook indicator, hashtag hints, line-break count, and every LinkedIn limit built in.
Open LinkedIn Character CounterFrequently Asked Questions
LinkedIn posts can be up to 3,000 characters, including spaces, line breaks, and hashtags. This limit has been in place since LinkedIn's 2020 expansion from 1,300 characters.
Approximately 210 characters are visible in the feed before LinkedIn truncates the post with a 'see more' link. The exact cutoff varies slightly by device and screen size, but 210 is a reliable target for planning your hook.
LinkedIn profile headlines are limited to 220 characters. Since the headline appears under your name across the platform (search results, comments, tags), aim for under 120 characters for mobile-safe display in most contexts.
LinkedIn Premium accounts get 300 characters in the optional connection request note. Basic (free) accounts are limited to 200 characters. If unsure, write for the 200-character limit.
InMail subjects are capped at 200 characters. Bodies can be up to 1,900 characters, though the highest-responding InMails are under 400 body characters. A specific subject and a short, clear ask outperforms long pitches.
LinkedIn recommends 3 to 5 targeted hashtags per post. More does not mean more reach - the algorithm favors concentrated topic signals. Niche hashtags outperform generic ones.
Yes. Spaces, line breaks, punctuation, and emojis all count. Emojis typically count as 2 characters each. If you're approaching a limit, line breaks are an easy place to tighten.