Meta Description Length Checker

Aim for 120 to 160 characters. On mobile, Google typically shows about 120 characters before truncating with an ellipsis. On desktop, the visible window is roughly 150 to 160 characters. The sweet spot for most pages is 130 to 155 characters — long enough to describe the page and include a call to action, short enough to display in full on both devices. Use the Mobile SERP preview tab in this tool to see how your description looks on a phone, and the Desktop tab for wider screens.

There is no single perfect number, but 150 to 160 characters is the widely accepted target. Google does not have a fixed pixel width for meta descriptions — it uses a pixel-based cutoff that translates to roughly 155 characters for standard Latin text, 120 characters on mobile, and sometimes up to 170 characters when the snippet is short and clean. The Mobile and Desktop previews in this tool show you exactly how your description will appear on a Google results page, so test it there rather than guessing a number.

Google does not publish an official character limit for meta descriptions. What matters is the pixel width of the rendered text: bold words, wide letters like W, and punctuation all take up more space. The safe practical limits are 120 characters for mobile and 155 to 160 characters for desktop. Anything beyond 160 is likely to be truncated. This tool shows you the exact cutoff for your specific text: the Mobile preview truncates at 120 characters, the Desktop preview at 160, so you can spot awkward mid-word cuts before they go live.