SMS Character Counter
Check whether your text fits in one SMS. This counter detects GSM-7 vs Unicode encoding, shows how many segments (billable parts) your message will be split into, and flags the characters that shrink your limit from 160 to 70.
Encoding: GSM-7 (standard)
These characters force Unicode (70 per SMS):
SMS length limits at a glance
| Message contains | Encoding | 1 SMS | Per segment when longer | Example |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Only standard letters, digits, basic punctuation | GSM-7 | 160 characters | 153 characters | 161 chars = 2 segments, 307 chars = 3 |
| Any emoji, Chinese/Arabic/Cyrillic letters, smart quotes… | UCS-2 (Unicode) | 70 characters | 67 characters | 71 chars = 2 segments, 135 chars = 3 |
| € [ ] { } ^ ~ | \ | GSM-7 extension | Allowed in GSM-7, but each counts as 2 characters | ||
How SMS length is calculated
SMS was designed with a payload of 140 bytes. With the 7-bit GSM alphabet that is 160 characters; with 16-bit UCS-2 (needed for emoji and most non-Latin scripts) it is 70. When a message is longer, it is sent as several concatenated segments. Each segment reserves a few bytes for a User Data Header that tells the receiving phone how to stitch the parts back together, which is why the per-segment capacity drops to 153 (GSM-7) or 67 (UCS-2).
Your phone shows one message, but carriers and bulk SMS services usually charge per segment. A 200-character reminder costs twice as much as a 160-character one, and a single emoji can turn a 1-segment text into 3 segments.
Quick tips to stay within one SMS
- Remove emoji in business texts, or keep the whole message under 70 characters.
- Paste from a plain-text editor, or use “Make GSM-safe” to replace curly quotes, long dashes and “…”.
- Use a short link instead of a full URL, and drop greetings that add no information.
- Write numbers and times compactly: “Tue 3pm” instead of “Tuesday at 3:00 in the afternoon”.
- Need examples? Browse our 160-character SMS examples and appointment reminder templates.
Frequently asked questions
How many characters can one text message have?
A single SMS holds 160 characters when every character is in the standard GSM-7 alphabet (Latin letters, digits and common punctuation). If the message contains even one emoji or other Unicode character, the whole message switches to UCS-2 encoding and one SMS holds only 70 characters.
What happens if my text is longer than 160 characters?
Your phone or SMS provider splits it into several segments that are joined back together on the recipient's phone (concatenated SMS). Each segment then carries a small header, so a long GSM-7 message fits 153 characters per segment and a long Unicode message 67 per segment. A 161-character message is 2 segments; a 351-character message is 3 segments.
Why does one emoji make my SMS so much shorter?
Emoji are not part of the GSM-7 alphabet, so the entire message is re-encoded as UCS-2 (16 bits per character). That drops the limit from 160 to 70 characters per single SMS, and most emoji also count as two UCS-2 units.
Do curly quotes or long dashes count as special characters?
Yes. Smart quotes (‘ ’ “ ”), en and em dashes (– —), the ellipsis character (…) and non-breaking spaces are not in GSM-7. They often sneak in when you paste from Word, Google Docs or a phone keyboard. Use the “Make GSM-safe” button to replace them with plain equivalents.
Do characters like € [ ] { } count as one character?
They are part of the GSM-7 extension table, so they are allowed but each one costs 2 of your 160 characters (an escape code plus the character).
Is there a limit on iMessage, RCS or WhatsApp?
Those are internet-based chat services, not SMS, so the 160-character segment limit does not apply. Segment counting matters for real SMS: carrier texts, bulk SMS platforms, two-factor codes and appointment reminders, where each segment is usually billed separately.
What is the maximum length of a long SMS?
The standard allows up to 255 segments in theory, but phones and providers set lower limits. Many SMS platforms cap a message at around 1,600 characters (about 10 GSM-7 segments) and some carriers convert very long texts to MMS.