Character Limit Checker › Meta description length

Meta description length checker

Google publishes no character limit for a meta description and cuts the snippet to fit the width of the device instead. So this page measures width: characters, UTF-8 bytes and pixels in three columns, with the word the cut lands on.

Two lines of the same length, one fits and one does not:

Characters, bytes and pixels, side by side

Three columns because three different things can run out first. A character count is what every other checker gives you, a byte count is what your CMS column and your feed export care about, and the pixel width is the only one of the three that decides where the snippet is cut.

Where it runs out of room

Paste a description above and this fills in.

Screen Budget Your width Verdict Characters that survive

The widths are measured in your own browser with canvas.measureText in 13px Arial, which is the font size a third party measurement found Google using for snippet text. If Arial is not installed, your browser substitutes a metric compatible face and the number moves by a few pixels. Treat the result as a close estimate of a moving target, not as a rule Google publishes.

Google has no meta description character limit, and says so

Almost every page that ranks for this question opens with a number: 155, 158, 160. Google's own documentation opens with the opposite. On the page that explains how snippets are built, Google writes that there is no limit on how long a meta description can be, and that the snippet is truncated in search results as needed, typically to fit the device width. Those two clauses are the whole story: no character rule, and a cut that depends on the screen the result is drawn on rather than on how many letters you typed.

That is why this page measures width. A description of 160 narrow letters and a description of 160 wide capitals are the same length and nowhere near the same width, so a single character count has to be wrong for one of them. The two sample buttons above are exactly that experiment: same length, different fate.

Where the 920 and the 680 come from

Google publishes no pixel number either, so the two budgets here are third party measurements, listed in the sources table with a link to who measured them and when. Screaming Frog's SERP emulator work puts desktop truncation at around 920 pixels of 13px Arial; the same figure and a mobile figure of 680 pixels are what agency tools have settled on. They are estimates of a rendering Google changes without telling anyone, which is why both numbers are editable fields on this page rather than constants baked into the code.

The cut lands on a word, not on a letter

When a snippet is too wide, the visible text stops at the end of a word and an ellipsis is added. This page does the same: it finds the last grapheme cluster that fits inside the budget with the ellipsis included, then walks back to the previous space. Grapheme clusters, not characters, so an emoji or a Korean syllable is either wholly in or wholly out.

Length is not the only reason your description never appears

Google states that snippets are primarily created from the page content itself and that the meta description is used when it might describe the page better than the page's own text. A description that survives the width check can still be ignored, and the fix for that is a description that reads like an answer to the query rather than a shorter one.

Where each number comes from

Two of these come from Google's own documentation and say there is no limit. The pixel budgets do not come from Google, because Google publishes none: they are third party measurements of a rendering that changes, which is why the fields above are editable.

Number Value Where it is published
Meta description length limit"There's no limit on how long a meta description can be, but the snippet is truncated in Google Search results as needed, typically to fit the device width." none Google Search Central, Snippetsthe platform's own documentation states it
Where snippets come fromGoogle states snippets are primarily created from the page content itself and uses the meta description when it describes the page better. page content first Google Search Central, Snippetsthe platform's own documentation states it
Desktop snippet widthMeasured against a SERP emulator at 923 px, with snippet text set in 13px Arial. Google publishes no pixel figure. about 920 px Screaming Frog, Page title and meta description lengths by pixel widtha third party measured it, the platform publishes nothing
Mobile snippet width"On mobile, it's 680 pixels, which is about 120 characters." The same page puts the 2026 desktop figure at 920 pixels. about 680 px mrs.digital, Meta length checker notesa third party measured it, the platform publishes nothing
The 155 to 160 character habitStated as a range around 680 pixels, which is the mobile budget rather than the desktop one. A target, not an enforced limit. 50 to 160 characters Moz, Meta descriptiona third party measured it, the platform publishes nothing

Questions people actually ask

Is there a meta description character limit or not?

No. Google's snippet documentation states that there is no limit on how long a meta description can be, and that the snippet is truncated in search results as needed, typically to fit the device width. The familiar 155 to 160 is a community rule of thumb that approximates the width of an average English sentence at that length. It is a useful target and it is not a rule, which is why this page reports pixels next to the character count rather than in place of it.

Why does this meta description length checker give two different widths?

Because the cut follows the screen. A desktop result column is wider than a phone one, so the same description survives on one and is trimmed on the other. The two budgets here start at 920 pixels for desktop and 680 for mobile, both third party measurements listed in the sources table, and both are editable because Google changes the rendering without announcing it.

My description was replaced by text from the page. Was it too long?

Probably not. Google says snippets are primarily created from the page content itself and that the meta description is used when it might describe the page better for that query. A replaced snippet is a relevance signal, not a length one: shortening a description that Google already declined to use rarely brings it back. Rewriting it so it answers the query the page ranks for does more.