Facebook Ad Character Limit: Every Field

The visible limits, the hard caps, where Meta actually truncates — and a free live checker with AI rewrite-to-fit.

125 characters
of primary text visible before “See more” on mobile · hard cap 2,200

Check your Meta ad copy

Primary text truncates around 125 characters on mobile ("See more"); the hard cap is 2,200. Headline: 27 visible / 40 hard max. Description: 27 visible / 30 hard max — and it's often hidden entirely in the mobile feed.
Primary text 125 visible / 2200 max0 / 125
Primary text fits without truncation.
Headline 27 visible / 40 max0 / 27
Headline fits without truncation.
Description 27 visible / 30 max0 / 27
Description fits without truncation.

The short answer

Meta ads have two numbers per field: what the platform accepts and what users actually see. The primary text — the copy above your creative — accepts up to about 2,200 characters, but the mobile feed cuts it around 125 characters behind a “See more” link. The headline accepts 40 characters but reliably shows only about 27. The description caps at 30, shows about 27, and on many mobile placements doesn't appear at all.

That gap between accepted and visible is where most Facebook ad copy quietly fails. Nothing warns you at upload time — the ad runs, but your call to action is buried behind a tap nobody makes. The checker above tracks both numbers: green means fully visible, amber means it runs but truncates, red means you've passed the hard cap and Meta may reject or cut the text.

Meta ad character limits by field

FieldVisible (mobile)Hard cap
Primary text~125 characters2,200 characters
Headline~27 characters40 characters
Description~27 characters (often hidden)30 characters

The same fields and limits apply to Instagram placements bought through Meta Ads Manager. Limits are set by Meta and occasionally shift with placement changes.

Front-load or lose the click

Because truncation lands at ~125 characters, the practical rule is: your hook, benefit and call to action belong in the first sentence. Everything after “See more” is bonus context for the minority who expand it. If your draft buries the CTA at character 180, hit ✨ Rewrite to fit and AI will compress the copy to fit the visible window while preserving the message and tone.

Note this page covers paid ad units. For organic Facebook posts — which have a completely different (63,206-character) limit — see the Facebook character limit guide.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the Facebook ad character limit for primary text?
Meta accepts up to roughly 2,200 characters of primary text, but the mobile feed truncates it around 125 characters behind a 'See more' link. Treat 125 as the working limit and front-load your message.
How long can a Facebook ad headline be?
The headline field accepts 40 characters, but only about 27 are reliably visible across placements. Keep headlines at 27 characters or fewer to avoid mid-word cutoffs.
Do the same limits apply to Instagram ads?
Yes. Instagram placements bought through Meta Ads Manager use the same primary text, headline and description fields with the same visible limits and hard caps.
Do emoji count toward Facebook ad character limits?
Yes — emoji, spaces and punctuation all count. This checker counts by Unicode code points, so each emoji counts as one character.
Is this the same as the Facebook post character limit?
No. Organic Facebook posts allow up to 63,206 characters — a completely different limit. This page covers paid ad units in Meta Ads Manager. See our separate Facebook character limit guide for organic posts.

Checking copy for more than one platform? The full Ad Copy Checker covers Google Ads, Meta, LinkedIn, TikTok, X and email subject lines in one place — with AI rewrite-to-fit on every field.

Open the Ad Copy Checker →

Related guides

Compare with the other ad platforms: Google Ads character limits, LinkedIn ad character limits and TikTok ad character limits. For organic content, see the Facebook post limit, Instagram caption limit and Twitter (X) limit guides, or check any text in the free character counter.