What is the character limit for a YouTube title?

Short answer

100 characters. YouTube’s Help Center gives that limit for a video title, and its Data API reference adds that a title may hold any valid UTF-8 character except < and >. YouTube sets the limit in characters, not words, and publishes no figure for how much of a title shows on a given screen; it says only that viewers may see part of it, so the important words belong at the beginning.

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 reference, read on 10 October 2026:

Rule	What YouTube says
Length	100 characters
Characters not allowed	Help says a title “cannot include invalid characters”; the API reference names < and >
Words	No word limit is given, only characters
Shorts	The pages set no separate limit for a Short

How much of a title people see

YouTube’s title advice says viewers may only see part of a title, so keep it short and put the most important words near the beginning, with episode numbers and branding toward the end. It also asks you to limit ALL CAPS and emoji, and to make the title match the video.

YouTube gives no number for where a title is cut. That depends on the surface (home feed, search, Up next) and the screen. The free thumbnail tester draws your title beside the thumbnail in those places, in our drawing, so you can see where a long one wraps.

Testing titles

YouTube Studio’s A/B test compares up to 3 titles and thumbnails on one video. YouTube says Shorts, scheduled lives and premieres can’t be tested (YouTube Help).

Titles and hashtags

A hashtag typed into a title or description is a link to a results page for that tag. YouTube ignores every hashtag on a video or playlist that has more than 60 (YouTube Help).

Uploading with Mellow Hub

A YouTube upload needs a title, and Hub holds it to 100 characters before it sends. If you give no title, Hub takes the first line of the caption, without hashtags, mentions or links. A title over the limit is cut at the last sentence or word that fits, and the post’s notes say that it was changed. The same post can carry a different 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 words can a YouTube title have?

YouTube sets no word limit. Its limit is 100 characters, so the number of words that fit depends on the language and the length of the words.

Which characters can’t I use in a YouTube title?

YouTube’s Help Center says a title cannot include invalid characters. The Data API reference is specific: a title may contain any valid UTF-8 character except the angle brackets < and >.

Is the title limit the same for Shorts?

The pages we read give one limit for video titles and none specific to Shorts, so a Short’s title is held to the same 100 characters.

How much of a YouTube title shows in search and in the feed?

YouTube doesn’t say. Its advice is that viewers may only see part of a title, so put the most important words near the beginning.

Can I test more than one title on a video?

Yes, with YouTube Studio’s A/B test: up to 3 titles and thumbnails, on a computer. Shorts, scheduled lives and premieres can’t be tested, and channels need advanced features turned on.

Sources

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