Meta Description Length Checker
Check meta description and meta title length — by character count, and by the pixel width Google actually truncates on.
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How it works
The practical meta description length limit is about 155–160 characters and the meta title limit about 60, but Google truncates on rendered pixel width rather than character count — roughly 920px for descriptions and 600px for titles. Type either one above and its width is measured live using the same canvas text-measurement API browsers use to lay out real text, entirely in your browser.
Google truncates search result titles and descriptions by rendered pixel width, not character count — a title full of narrow letters like "iiiill" fits in far less space than the same character count of wide letters like "MWMW". A character-count limit is therefore only ever a rough guide; two titles with the same length can render to very different widths and only one might get cut off with an ellipsis.
This tool measures the actual rendered width using the Canvas API’s text measurement (the same primitive browsers use internally to lay out text) at Arial 20px for titles and Arial 14px for descriptions — a close approximation of Google’s desktop SERP rendering. The bar and pixel count update as you type, so you can see exactly where a title would start getting clipped rather than guessing from a character count alone.
The 600px and 920px cutoffs are approximate and do shift over time as Google adjusts its results page — treat the character-count guide as a rough sanity check and the pixel bar as the more reliable signal of the two.
Meta title and description length limits
These are the character counts worth designing to. They are derived from the pixel limits rather than the other way round, which is why they are ranges and not exact figures: the same character count renders wider in capitals than in lowercase, so a 60-character title in title case can truncate where a 65-character one in sentence case does not.
Treat the character column as the target you write to and the pixel bar above as the check you actually trust. Anything inside the safe range will essentially never truncate; anything past the limit almost certainly will.
| Element | Length |
|---|---|
| Meta description — safe range | 145–155 characters |
| Meta description — truncation point | ~160 characters / 920px |
| Meta description — mobile truncation | ~120 characters |
| Meta title — safe range | 50–55 characters |
| Meta title — truncation point | ~60 characters / 600px |
| Meta title — mobile truncation | ~55 characters |
FAQ
Why does Google cut off titles at different character counts?
Because the actual limit is pixel width, not character count. Wide characters (like uppercase M or W) use up the available width faster than narrow ones (like lowercase i or l), so the same character count can render very differently.
Is the pixel limit exact?
It’s a close approximation based on Google’s typical desktop rendering font and size, and the real cutoff has shifted before and can shift again. Use it as guidance, not a guarantee.
Does this apply to meta descriptions on other search engines too?
The specific pixel limits here are calibrated to Google. Other search engines and social platforms use their own render widths and fonts.