Character Counter for Emoji and Fancy Text

See why styled text counts differently

The same text has three different lengths depending on what is counted. Characters you see (grapheme clusters) are what a reader perceives. Code points are the Unicode characters underneath. UTF-16 units are how JavaScript and many apps store text, and styled letters and most emoji take two of them each.

How many: 5

𝐀𝐀𝐀𝐀𝐀

Characters you see: 5
Code points: 5
UTF-16 units: 10

Styled math letters are outside the Basic Multilingual Plane, so each takes 2 UTF-16 units.

Or count your own text (up to 100 characters, kept on this page only)

One character you see, counted three ways
Example	Characters you see	Code points	UTF-16 units
Plain letter	1	1	1
Bold letter	1	1	2
Accent typed as a mark	1	2	2
Flag	1	2	4
Keycap	1	3	3
Family emoji	1	7	11

Apps choose one of these counts for their limits, and most do not say which. FontBlaze shows all three, and the fit check in the font generator and Name Studio only says a text fits when it fits by every count (the X post preset uses X's own count instead). Even then, fitting a count does not mean an app will accept styled text.

Four ways to count the same text

Text can be measured in several units, and apps do not agree on which one to use.

Unit	What it counts	Example: 👍🏽
Characters (graphemes)	What a reader sees as one character	1
Code points	Individual Unicode characters	2
UTF-16 units	How JavaScript, Java and many apps store text	4
UTF-8 bytes	How text is usually stored in files and sent over networks	8

FontBlaze shows graphemes as the main count because that matches what you see. It uses your browser’s built-in Intl.Segmenter for this, with a tested fallback for older browsers.

Why styled text counts differently

Most styled alphabets, such as 𝐁𝐨𝐥𝐝 or 𝓢𝓬𝓻𝓲𝓹𝓽, are stored outside Unicode’s Basic Multilingual Plane. Each of those letters is one character and one code point, but two UTF-16 units. A 20 letter bold name can therefore count as 40 in an app that measures UTF-16. Circled and fullwidth letters are inside the Basic Multilingual Plane and count as one unit each.

Combining marks work the other way. Glitch text looks like one character per letter but adds several code points to each one, so its code point and UTF-16 counts climb quickly.

Checking a limit

Enter a number in Limit and pick the unit the app is likely to use. If you do not know the unit, check against UTF-16 units, which is the stricter of the common choices for styled text. The result tells you how much room is left or how far over you are.

Words and lines

Words are counted with the browser’s word segmentation, which understands punctuation and many languages. Lines count every line break, including an empty last line after a final break. Use the Unicode inspector if you need to see exactly which characters are in your text.

Frequently asked questions

Why does an app say my text is longer than this counter?

Many apps count UTF-16 code units, not characters. Most emoji and every bold or script letter use two UTF-16 units, so they can count double. Set the limit unit to UTF-16 to match those apps.

What is a grapheme?

A grapheme, or grapheme cluster, is what a reader sees as one character. A thumbs-up emoji with a skin tone is two code points and four UTF-16 units, but one grapheme.

How does X count my post?

X counts most letters, numbers and punctuation as 1, and most styled letters, emoji and CJK characters as 2. Each link counts as 23, and a post can be up to 280. The On X count follows the rules X publishes, so a post in bold or script letters holds about half as many characters.

Does this counter store my text?

No. Counting happens in your browser and the text is not saved or sent anywhere.