What is the character limit for a YouTube description?

Short answer

5,000 characters. That is the limit YouTube’s Help Center gives for a video description. The Data API reference states it as 5000 bytes, a different unit: an emoji or a letter outside the basic Latin set takes more than one byte, so text in another script reaches the API’s limit sooner. Neither page allows < or >. YouTube gives no figure for how much of a description shows before a viewer expands it.

Written by the Mellow team · Updated October 10, 2026, sources read October 10, 2026

The limit, from YouTube

From YouTube Help and the Data API references for videos, channels and playlists, read on 10 October 2026:

Field	Limit	Where it is stated
Video description	5,000 characters	YouTube Help
Video description, through the API	5000 bytes	Videos resource, `snippet.description`
Characters not allowed	< and >	Videos resource
Video tags	500 characters in all	Videos resource, `snippet.tags`
Channel description	1000 characters	Channels resource, branding settings
Channel name	30 characters	Channels resource, branding settings
Playlist title and description	No figure is given	Playlists resource

Characters or bytes

A character is a letter, digit, space or emoji as you see it. A byte is a unit of storage, and in UTF-8 an unaccented Latin letter takes 1, a Cyrillic or Greek letter 2 and an ordinary emoji 4. A description of 4,000 Cyrillic letters is 4,000 characters but about 8,000 bytes.

YouTube’s Help Center says characters and its API reference says bytes. It doesn’t say which unit a description typed in YouTube Studio is held to. For English text the two agree. For anything else, leave a margin below 5,000.

What a description does

YouTube describes the field as the info that shows below your video. Two things in it are worth knowing:

Hashtags. Up to three of the hashtags in a description appear by the video’s title, and a video or playlist with more than 60 hashtags has all of them ignored (YouTube Help).
Chapters. A description is where chapters live: at least three timestamps in ascending order, the first at 00:00, each chapter at least 10 seconds long (YouTube Help).

Descriptions with Mellow Hub

Hub’s YouTube channel takes a caption of up to 5,000 characters, which becomes the video’s description. Hub counts characters, as Help states the limit, not bytes as the API reference does, so keep a margin for non-Latin text or many emoji. A caption over the limit is cut at the last paragraph, line or sentence that fits, and the post’s notes say so. The title is separate and required, and the same post can carry a shorter caption for each network.

Hub is paid: plans start at $19 a month (Solo), after a 7-day trial with a card on file that costs nothing if you cancel before it ends, and a monthly plan's first month is 20% off. Publishing is unlimited on every plan, under a fair-use ceiling that stops automated floods (900 publications a month on Solo). One publication is one post on one account, so a post sent to five networks counts as five. There are no automatic overage charges.

Questions people also ask

How many characters can a YouTube description have?

5,000 characters, according to YouTube’s Help Center. The Data API reference gives the same number as 5000 bytes.

Is the YouTube description limit in characters or bytes?

YouTube’s Help Center says characters and its Data API reference says bytes. They match for plain English text; emoji and letters outside the basic Latin set take several bytes each, so keep a margin when writing in another script.

How many hashtags can a YouTube description have?

YouTube ignores every hashtag on a video or playlist that has more than 60. Of the hashtags in the description, up to three that it considers most engaging appear by the video’s title.

What do I need for chapters in a description?

At least three timestamps listed in ascending order, the first one starting at 00:00, with each chapter at least 10 seconds long, according to YouTube’s Help Center.

How much of a YouTube description shows before “Show more”?

YouTube doesn’t publish a figure. Its help says only that the description is the info that shows below your video.

Sources

Other companies’ features change. Every statement about them rests on these pages, as they read on the date above.