Paste your video title or description above to check it against YouTube's limits before you publish.
YouTube Character Limits in 2026
| Field | Limit |
|---|---|
| Video title | 100 characters |
| Title shown in search/suggested | ~70 characters |
| Description | 5,000 characters |
| Description above “Show more” | ~100–150 characters |
| Tags (all combined) | 500 characters |
| Channel name | 50 characters |
Limits verified as of July 2026. Platforms change limits occasionally — if you spot one that moved, let us know.
Titles: 100 Allowed, ~70 Displayed
YouTube accepts titles up to 100 characters, but search results and suggested videos truncate them around 70 characters. Put your main keyword and hook in the first 60–70 characters so the visible part carries the full message.
Descriptions That Work
- The first 100–150 characters matter most — they show above the “Show more” fold and in search snippets. Treat them like a meta description.
- Use the remaining space for depth: chapters with timestamps, links, and related keywords all live below the fold.
- Chapters need at least 3 timestamps, starting from 0:00, each on its own line.
- Avoid keyword stuffing. Repeating the same phrase dozens of times can hurt rather than help.
Do YouTube Shorts have different limits?
Shorts use the same 100-character title limit. Since Shorts titles overlay the video on small screens, shorter titles (under 40 characters) are easier to read.
Does a longer description rank better?
Length alone does not rank; relevance does. A focused 200-word description beats 5,000 characters of filler — use length only when you have chapters, resources, or genuinely useful detail to add.
👉 Optimizing web pages too? Try the title tag length checker