Include any link and your sign-off. The example has two curly apostrophes in it. Try the fix button.
These characters switch the message to UCS-2
- ’ curly apostrophe (2)
The fix button gets you to 1 segment in GSM-7.
Segments per message
2
- Characters
- 115
- Encoding
- UCS-2
- Left in this segment
- 19
- Room per segment
- 67
At least one character isn’t in GSM-7, so the whole message is sent as UCS-2: 70 characters in one segment, 67 in each segment of a longer one.
Counted in your browser. Nothing is saved or sent. Some providers add their own text, like an opt-out line, which adds characters.
One text can be billed as two or three
Text messages are sent in segments, and a segment holds 160 plain characters. Go one character over and the message is split into pieces, each with a little less room, because part of every piece is used to stitch them back together on the other phone.
A single emoji or curly apostrophe switches the whole message to a different encoding that fits only 70 characters per segment. That is how a short appointment reminder turns into three segments and costs three times as much to send. This counter shows what will actually go out, and which characters to swap.
How to use the sms character counter
1
Paste your message
Paste the exact text you plan to send, including any link and your sign-off.
2
Check the encoding
GSM-7 is the plain encoding with the most room. If it says UCS-2, the highlighted characters are the reason.
3
Fix and trim
Use the one-click fix for curly quotes and dashes, swap or drop emoji, and trim until the segment count is where you want it.
GSM-7 and the 160 character limit
Plain texts use GSM-7, an alphabet of 128 characters that packs each one into 7 bits. A segment carries 140 bytes, which is room for 160 of them. A few symbols, like € [ ] { } ~ ^ \ and |, live in an extension table and take two spots each.
Why one emoji cuts it to 70
If even one character is missing from the GSM-7 alphabet, the whole message switches to UCS-2, which spends 16 bits on every character. The same 140 bytes then hold only 70 characters. Most emoji need two of those 16-bit units, so each one counts as two.
Where 153 and 67 come from
When a message is too long for one segment, each piece carries a small header that tells the receiving phone how to put the pieces back in order. The header takes 6 bytes, leaving room for 153 GSM-7 characters or 67 UCS-2 characters per segment. A 161 character message is two full segments, not one and a bit.
The usual suspects
Curly quotes and apostrophes, long dashes, the single-character ellipsis, and non-breaking spaces slip in when you write in a word processor or on a phone with smart punctuation turned on. They look almost the same as the plain versions but force UCS-2. Writing in a plain text box, or using the fix button, avoids them.
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Questions
How many characters fit in one text message?
160 if every character is in the GSM-7 alphabet, or 70 if any character is not. Longer messages are split into segments of 153 or 67 characters each.
Do emoji count as two characters?
Most do. Emoji are stored as two 16-bit units, so each one uses two of the 70 spots in a UCS-2 segment. Emoji built from several parts, like flags, skin tones, or families, use even more.
Why does my message show UCS-2 when there are no emoji?
Look for curly quotes, a curly apostrophe, a long dash, or an ellipsis character. Phones and word processors swap these in automatically. The counter highlights each one, and the fix button replaces them with plain versions.
Am I charged per segment?
Most SMS providers bill each segment as one message. Look up your provider’s per-segment price and enter it above to estimate what a send will cost.
Will the person see one message or several?
Usually one. Phones join the segments back together, so the reader sees a single text even though each piece was sent separately.
Is my message saved anywhere?
No. The counting happens in your browser and nothing is sent or stored.
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