Instagram character limits and posting rules
Last reviewed: 29 August 2026
2,200 characters per caption. Every carousel slide is cropped to the first slide's aspect ratio.
What are Instagram's limits at a glance?
The table gives the figure Postey applies for Instagram, the field it applies to, the unit it is counted in, and whether Instagram enforces it when a post is published.
| Field | Maximum | Counted in | Enforced at publish? |
|---|---|---|---|
| caption | 2,200 | Code points | Yes, at publish time |
How long can a Instagram caption be?
Instagram caps a caption at 2,200 characters, and Postey checks a draft against that cap before it publishes.
How does Instagram count a character?
Instagram counts code points, which is the unit Python’s len() returns on Postey’s backend, so the count you see in Postey is the count Instagram applies.
What media rules apply to a Instagram caption?
Instagram applies one media rule Postey enforces before it publishes.
Crops every carousel slide to the first slide's aspect ratio.
What happens to a Instagram draft that is over the limit?
Postey refuses the draft and names the caption limit it broke. Instagram does not thread, so a long draft stays one caption or it does not go out.
How does Instagram compare with the other platforms?
Postey publishes the same draft to every platform below, reshaping it against each one's own limit rather than against Instagram's.
| Platform | Field | Limit | Counted in | Enforced at publish? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| X | post | 280 characters | Weighted (link 23, emoji 2) | Yes, at publish time |
| post | 3,000 characters | Code points | Yes, at publish time | |
| Threads | post | 500 characters | Code points | Yes, at publish time |
| Bluesky | post | 300 graphemes | Graphemes | Yes, by the protocol |
| TikTok | caption | 2,200 characters | Code points | Yes, at publish time |
| YouTube | description | 5,000 characters | Code points | Field maximum only |
| post | 63,206 characters | Code points | Yes, at publish time | |
| description | 500 characters | Code points | Field maximum only |
Read the full reference for every platform Postey publishes to.