“What is the character limit on Threads?”
What is the character limit on Threads?
Short answer
A text post on Threads can be up to 500 characters, according to Meta's Threads API documentation (checked October 2026). A text attachment adds up to 10,000 more characters and one link to a text-only post. In the API, emojis count by their UTF-8 bytes, so an emoji uses more than one character of your 500.
The number: 500 characters
Meta's Threads API documentation says plainly: "Text posts are limited to 500 characters." The same sentence appears on the API overview page under limitations and specifications, and it was still there on October 17, 2026.
The 500 figure is the one every scheduler and script works to when it publishes through Meta's API, and it is the cap for text posts you write in the Threads app too. A draft that fits in 500 characters is safe in both places.
Posts you write in the Threads app are subject to Threads' own composer. If the composer and a scheduler ever show different counts, trust the composer in the app, because it is the product the limit is built into.
A quick way to check a draft: paste it into a notes app, read the count, and add about 3 for each emoji (an emoji is usually 4 bytes, and the notes app already counted it as 1). If the total is 500 or less, the post goes through.
How emojis count in the API
Meta's docs add a rule that surprises people: "Emojis are counted as the number of UTF-8 bytes." That note appears on the post character limit itself, not only in a footnote. A plain letter is one byte. Most emojis are four bytes, and some emojis built from several parts (a flag, a skin tone, a family) are longer.
In practice a post with ten emojis can use 40 or more of your 500 characters when it goes through the API. A post that looks like 480 characters in a text editor can be rejected if it carries a handful of emojis. If you publish through a tool and a post fails near the limit, count the emojis first.
As a rule of thumb, leave a margin of 30 to 40 characters on any post that carries emojis, and count the emojis before you publish.
Going past 500: text attachments
In September 2025 Meta announced a way to attach long text to a post. Its newsroom post says Threads is rolling out "a way to attach up to 10,000 characters of text to a post," and that attached text can be read directly in Threads.
The developer docs give the rules for the API. A text attachment holds up to 10,000 characters and one link. It can use bold, italic, highlight, underline and strikethrough. It can only be attached to a text-only post, so it cannot go on a post with an image, video or carousel, and it cannot go on a post that has a poll.
The main post still has to fit in 500 characters. Think of it as a short hook that stays in the feed, with the longer piece one tap away. The attachment takes emojis and styled text too, and Meta's docs describe it for a reply as well as a post.
Other limits that sit next to it
A few smaller limits matter when you draft. They come from the Threads Help Center and the API docs.
The Help Center says you can edit the text of a post within 15 minutes of posting. After that, the option is to delete. Only the text can change: you cannot add or remove attachments in an edit. If anyone likes, replies to, reposts or quotes the post before you finish, the post shows an Edited label.
That makes the first quarter hour the time to reread the post on your own profile, because typos show up there that did not show up in the composer. If you use a scheduler, open the live post on Threads right after it publishes and check the line breaks and the link preview.
- Topic tag: up to 50 characters, one topic per post (see Threads topic tags).
- Poll options: 25 characters each, up to four options, open for 24 hours.
- Links: up to 5 unique links in one post through the API. The first link in a text-only post becomes the link preview card.
- Editing: you can edit the text of a post within 15 minutes of posting. Attachments cannot be added or removed.
- Posts per day: 250 published posts per profile in 24 hours through the API. That cap has its own page: Threads API posting limits.
Writing well inside 500 characters
Five hundred characters is about 80 to 100 words. That is long enough for one idea with a concrete example, and short enough that a second idea belongs in a second post. The range is our own count from ordinary English prose.
A simple test before you post: can you say the point in the first two lines? The feed shows the start of your post, so put the claim there and keep the example and the link for the end. If a draft needs 620 characters, cut the setup sentence first. It is almost always the weakest line.
Two worked examples
Example one: the emoji squeeze. You draft a launch post that is 470 characters in your notes app, with six emojis. Through the API, an emoji counts as its UTF-8 bytes, and most emojis are four bytes. Six emojis therefore count as about 24, which is 18 more than you counted. The post lands near 488, still inside 500. Add six more emojis and it lands near 524, and the API refuses it. The fix is not a rewrite. Drop three emojis and the post goes out.
Example two: the long piece. You want to share a 1,800 character explanation of how your pricing changed. Put a short main post in the feed, up to 500 characters, that states the change and the reason in the first two lines. Put the full explanation in a text attachment, which holds up to 10,000 characters and one link, and put your link inside the attachment. Meta's docs say that if the main post already has a link attachment, you cannot add another in the text attachment, so keep the main post link-free.
Neither example needs a tool. Both are just arithmetic: know the byte count of the emojis you use and know which post carries the link.
Where Threadgehog fits
Threadgehog is a Mac app that writes Threads and X posts in a style learned from about ten example posts, sized for each network: up to 500 characters a post on Threads and 280 on X. You approve drafts in a review queue, and approved posts go to the scheduler you already use: Buffer, Typefully, Publer, Metricool or Postiz.
In the project settings, the "Posts that include your link" slider runs from 0 to 100% in steps of 5, so you decide how many drafts carry your link. The app is on a waitlist today, and the 14-day free trial starts when it opens. See pricing for plans. If you also post on X, the same idea has a different limit there: the X character limit.
Questions
How many characters can a Threads post have?
500 for a text post, per Meta's Threads API documentation as of October 2026. A text attachment can add up to 10,000 characters and one link to a text-only post.
Do spaces and punctuation count toward the 500?
Yes. Every character you type counts, spaces and punctuation included. Emojis count by their UTF-8 bytes in the API, so each one takes more than a single character.
Why was my post rejected when it looked under 500?
Emojis. Through the API they count as the number of UTF-8 bytes, so ten emojis can take 40 or more characters. Remove one or two emojis and try again.
Can I write a long post on Threads?
Yes, with a text attachment: up to 10,000 characters and a link on a text-only post, with a short main post of up to 500 characters.
Is the limit the same for replies?
Meta's docs describe the 10,000 character text attachment for "a post or a reply". For the main text of a reply, plan on the same 500 character limit as a text post.
How is Threads different from X on length?
X allows 280 characters on a standard post. Subscribers can write longer posts. The full breakdown is in the X character limit.
Can a text attachment include a link?
Yes. Meta's docs say a text attachment holds up to 10,000 characters and one link, but only if the main post has no link attachment of its own.
How long do I have to edit a Threads post?
15 minutes after posting, per the Threads Help Center. Only the text can change.
Sources
- Meta: Threads API, create posts (checked 2026-10-17)
- Meta: Threads API overview and specifications (checked 2026-10-17)
- Meta: Threads API text attachments (checked 2026-10-17)
- Meta newsroom: Attach text to Threads posts (checked 2026-10-17)
- Threads Help Center: Start a new thread (checked 2026-10-17)
- Threads Help Center: Add a poll to your post (checked 2026-10-17)
- Threads Help Center: Tag a topic in your post (checked 2026-10-17)
- Threads Help Center: Edit your post (checked 2026-10-17)
- Threadgehog: home and FAQ (checked 2026-10-17)