How Many Characters In An Instagram Post? [A Character Count Guide]

Social media platforms such as Instagram have character limits on their text posts to make sure their sites look cleaner and less cluttered.

They also want their posts to be more engaging, which means less characters. However, we can often feel stifled by character limits when trying to get our message across.

Below we have a complete guide to all you need to know about Instagram’s character limits, and the answer to the question – is there a way you can exceed Instagram’s character limits?

Does Instagram Have A Character Limit?

Yes, Instagram does have a character limit for things like captions, hashtags, and usernames. 

However, unlike social media platforms like Twitter, Instagram’s character limits are more flexible, especially when it comes to their captions. 

What Is The Character Limit On Instagram Captions?

If you have an Instagram account, you are probably well aware of how crucial captions are when crafting an engaging post.

Instagram does give you more freedom than other sites when it comes to their character limits, as they allow posts of up to 2,200 characters.

Although you can of course make the most out of all these characters, a lot of users prefer to make their captions much shorter. Longer posts are often thought of as being boring, and they of course take longer to read.

In fact, it is recommended to keep your Instagram posts under 125 characters to make them more appealing and engaging to other users.

After all, if your post is over 125 characters then they will have to hit the ‘See More’ button, and the chances of the average Instagram user clicking that ‘See More’ button are low. 

In short, if your Instagram posts are nice and brief it encourages the Instagram algorithm to push your content to more users.

What Is The Character Limit On Instagram Hashtags?

If utilized properly, the hashtag feature on Instagram can be a highly effective marketing tool. However, the hashtag limit is not the same as Instagram’s caption character limit.

You can have up to 30 hashtags on an Instagram post, whether this be in the caption itself or in the comments.

However, people are divided on how many hashtags are too much.

Eleven is often considered to be the ideal number of hashtags to create engagement, but it’s the quality of your hashtags rather than the quantity of your hashtags that are important.

In short, they need to be relevant.

Although Instagram does help you out by providing relevant hashtags, we also recommend googling popular hashtags that are relevant to your post.

What Is The Character Limit For Instagram Usernames?

There are also limits to how many characters you can have in your username too.

Instagram usernames can have up to 30 characters, and Instagram usernames tend to be well below this character limit.

Again, it is important to choose a username that is relevant to the content you’re promoting, and don’t feel like you have to use your full name in your username either. That’s what your bio is for!

Can You Go Over The Instagram Character Limit?

This is a question asked by a lot of Instagram users – is there a way to fit more characters into their captions or usernames? Well, there are loopholes.

One loophole is to encourage your followers to read more by clicking a link in the description that will take them to another site with more information on your business, for example.

There are no loopholes for adding more characters to your username or adding more hashtags to your post, but there are not many complaints from users that the 30-character limit for usernames is too short. 

Although 2,200 characters is a decent amount of characters to write a good post, it’s understandable why this doesn’t always feel like the case.

But if you want your posts to be longer, there is a loophole. You can always write the rest of your post in the comments section.

However, you will need to let your followers know in the caption that more information is in the comments section.

The Instagram character limit is divisive among users, as some people feel like the character limit is too low to create engagement.

If you feel this way, then these loopholes we mentioned could help you get around the problem. But let’s take a look at some other ways you can stick to the character limit while engaging your followers. 

Make use of questions: When you ask questions of your Instagram followers – whether in posts or via Instagram Live – they are more likely to engage with you and offer you the same courtesy.

They can respond to a ‘yes or no’ question by liking your post, or answer more specific questions by leaving comments. 

This is an effective way to create engagement, which will please the algorithm and push your post to more users, helping you attract more followers!

Use links in your bio: We’ve briefly touched on this loophole, but it is effective in putting more information in your bio without exceeding the character limit.

However, you must remember to make the URL shorter so you don’t run out of space. You can link to your website, Wikipedia page, or other social media platforms so your followers can learn more about you.

The loopholes and methods above are totally legal and do not contradict Instagram’s terms and conditions. So you don’t have to worry about action being taken against your account.

Pinterest Character Limits

Now that we know about Instagram’s character limits, what about Pinterest? Pinterest is very different to other social media platforms in that it is totally reliant on images and links.

Pinterest does put a limit on how many boards and pins you can have in order for the platform to run smoothly. Still, there are also character limits in relation to text too.

You can have up to 2,000 boards and 200,000 pins. Your profile name can be a maximum of 30 characters, while your board names can be a maximum of 50 characters.

Pin titles can be a maximum of 100 characters, while board descriptions can be no more than 500 characters.

Pin descriptions can be pretty flexible, but only the first 50 characters will appear when people click on your pin.

How Many Accounts Can You Unfollow On Instagram Per Day?

While there is no official figure we can give you regarding how many Instagram accounts you can unfollow every day, most people have found that they can follow no more than 200 accounts per day. 

It’s important to remember that if you exceed the unfollow limit or use an Instagram bot, Instagram may take action and suspend your account or ban it altogether.

It’s never a good idea to use illegal methods to get more followers. Instead, use the services of a legitimate, organic Instagram growth service.

Final Thoughts

Now that you know how many characters you can include in your Instagram posts and username, remember to focus on who your target audience is. 

Instagram puts these character limits in place for good reason, namely user engagement. However, like most aspects of marketing, it’s not an exact science.

Experiment with strategies to find what works for you while keeping with Instagram’s guidelines to get the most out of the platform.