LinkedIn character limits for every field

LinkedIn post character limit: 3,000

A LinkedIn post, including a post in a group, can be up to 3,000 characters. Spaces, line breaks and punctuation all count. Most emoji count as two, and so do the “bold” or “italic” letters that post formatters produce, because those are separate Unicode symbols rather than styling. A post written entirely in bold letters runs out at about 1,500 visible characters.

The feed shows only the opening before “see more.” LinkedIn doesn’t publish where that cut falls. Testers report about 210 characters on desktop and 140 on mobile, and line breaks move it earlier because the fold is based on lines, not characters. Treat those numbers as a guide, then check the real opening in the LinkedIn post preview.

Connection request note: 200 characters, and only a few a month

LinkedIn’s current help page on personalized invitations says each note can be up to 200 characters and makes no exception for Premium. An older page still says Premium members get 300. Many guides repeat 300 for everyone, which is why templates copied from them get cut off on free accounts. Write to 200 unless you’ve seen 300 accepted on your own account.

Free accounts also have a monthly cap on notes. One LinkedIn page says three a month, another says five. Once the cap is used, new invitations go out without a note until the month resets.

Templates need one more check. “Hi {{first_name}}” is 16 characters as written but grows with every long name. Type your template above, set the longest value you expect, and the checker shows the note at its longest. OutreachGenie runs the same check at send time: each invitation note is measured after the variables are filled in, against 200 characters counted the way LinkedIn’s note box counts them, and an over-long note stops with an error instead of going out cut short. More on setting this up: automating LinkedIn connection requests.

How many connection requests can you send?

LinkedIn doesn’t publish a weekly number. Its invitation limit page says the limits apply to all members, Basic and Premium, and that a restriction “typically lasts one week.” The figure of about 100 invitations a week comes from people hitting the restriction, not from LinkedIn, and it varies by account. Accepted and relevant invitations matter more than volume; withdrawing old pending ones doesn’t lift a restriction that’s already in place. The guide to LinkedIn automation limits covers daily caps and working hours.

InMail character limit: subject 200, body 2,000 or 1,900

LinkedIn’s general InMail page gives a 200-character subject and a 2,000-character body. The Sales Navigator and Recruiter pages say 1,900, and Sales Navigator counts a signature of up to 150 characters inside that 1,900. If you send from Sales Navigator, write to 1,900 including the signature. Shorter is usually better anyway: LinkedIn’s recruiter InMail data found messages under 400 characters got 22% more responses than average. How many credits each plan gets is covered in LinkedIn InMail credits by plan.

Headline 220, About section 2,600

The headline allows 220 characters. LinkedIn’s profile editor says so directly: type a 221st character and it shows “Exceeded maximum length of 220 characters.” Far less than that shows next to your name in search results, comments and invitations, so the words a buyer needs belong at the start. The LinkedIn headline generator builds options that way and drafts the About section too.

The About section allows 2,600 characters. Only the first few lines show before “see more,” so the opening sentence has to say who you help and how. Experience descriptions are commonly measured at 2,000 characters and position titles at 100. For what to write there, see a LinkedIn profile that explains your offer.

Comments and direct messages

LinkedIn documents comment limits only for groups, and its two pages disagree: 1,250 on one, 1,000 on the other. Feed comments are commonly measured at 1,250. Direct messages to connections are commonly measured at 8,000 characters. LinkedIn’s only published 8,000 figure is for Conversation Ads, not member messages, so long messages are worth splitting before you reach that point.

How LinkedIn counts characters

• Every space, line break and punctuation mark counts.
• LinkedIn doesn’t document its counting method. This checker uses the strictest credible one, which is how browsers measure text: most emoji count as two, a flag or family emoji as more, and Unicode bold or italic letters as two each.
• Tools that post through LinkedIn’s API can cut a post short without an error. In the API, characters such as ( ) [ ] { } @ # * _ ~ must be escaped, or the text may stop at the first one. If a scheduled post looks shorter than your draft, check for those characters first.

Where LinkedIn’s own pages disagree

• Personalized notes per month on free accounts: three on one page, five on another.
• Connection note length on Premium: 200 on the current page, 300 on an older one.
• InMail body: 2,000 on the general page, 1,900 on the Sales Navigator and Recruiter pages.
• Group comments: 1,250 on one page, 1,000 on another.

When the pages disagree, write to the lower number. It works on every account.