SMS character counter
The exact count, including the characters that cost double and the ones that tip the whole message into UCS-2.
Counting the characters in an SMS is not the same as counting the letters in a text. Some characters take two places, others halve the message's capacity, and a long message is not cut into slices of 160 but of 153. This tool applies the network's own rules as you type, without your text ever leaving your browser.
- Characters
- 0
- Encoding
- GSM-7
- Segments
- 0
- Remaining
- 160
0 — GSM-7 — 0
The rules the network applies
160 characters in GSM-7
An SMS carries 140 bytes of payload. In the GSM 03.38 alphabet each character fits in 7 bits, which gives exactly 160 characters per message.
70 characters in UCS-2
A single character outside that alphabet — an emoji, a Cyrillic letter, an ideogram — tips the entire message into UCS-2, where each character takes 16 bits. The limit then falls to 70 characters.
Nine characters count double
The characters ^ { } \ [ ~ ] | and the € symbol belong to the GSM-7 extension table: they are transmitted preceded by an escape character and therefore use two places instead of one.
153 characters per segment
Past the limit, the message is split and each part carries a 6-byte reassembly header. That leaves 153 usable characters per segment in GSM-7, and 67 in UCS-2.
Frequently asked questions
Why does my 161-character message become 2 SMS?+
Because past 160 characters the message is split, and each segment loses 7 characters to the reassembly header: only 153 are left per part.
Does an emoji count as a single character?+
Rarely: most emoji take two units in UCS-2, and their mere presence already cuts the message limit from 160 to 70 characters.
Do French accents tip the message into UCS-2?+
Not for é, è, à, ù, ç and ô, which are part of the GSM-7 alphabet; yes for other accented letters, which are absent from it.
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