Free tool · runs in your browser
YouTube Title Length Checker
A free YouTube title length checker. The usual advice says keep titles under 60 characters. YouTube does not count characters. It renders your title in a real font inside a real box and clamps it at two lines, which is why a title full of wide letters truncates earlier than the rule promised. This measures yours in pixels, per surface.
YouTube truncates titles by rendered lines, not by a fixed character count, which is why character-count tools disagree with what you actually see. Two W's take the space of five l's. If your payoff word is in the truncated part on the sidebar surface, move it into the first six words.
Front-load the payoff
Truncation is only a problem when it eats the interesting part. A title like Free Software Wedding Edit: Client Could Not Tell survives every surface because the hook lives in the first five words. Write the title you want, then check which words the sidebar loses. If the lost words carry the stakes, swap the halves and check again.
How the youtube title length checker works
Type or paste the title
The checker measures as you type, so you can edit in place until every surface passes.
Read the four surfaces
Desktop home feed at 360 pixels, suggested sidebar at 168, phone feed at 384 and desktop search at 540, each clamped at two lines in YouTube's font size for that surface.
Look at what the sidebar loses
The cut-off words are shown for each surface that fails. If the lost words carry the payoff, the title is front-loaded wrong, not too long.
Swap the halves and check again
Move the stake into the first five or six words and the setup after it. Most titles pass every surface after that one change.
How long a YouTube title can be, and how long it should be
YouTube allows up to 100 characters in a title. That is the field limit, not the display limit. What viewers see is clamped by rendered lines: two lines at the font size of each surface, which is why a title full of wide letters truncates earlier than the usual 'under 60 characters' rule promises, and a title of narrow letters survives past it. This checker measures the actual pixels in YouTube's font instead of counting.
The practical rule is about order, not length: the payoff has to arrive before the sidebar cuts. A title like 'Free Software Wedding Edit: Client Could Not Tell' survives every surface because the hook lives in the first five words.
[Payoff or stake in the first five or six words] + [the setup or context after it] Check: does the suggested sidebar (168 px, two lines) still show the payoff?
Common YouTube title length mistakes
- Counting characters. YouTube clamps by rendered width and lines, so 60 characters of capitals and 60 characters of lowercase are not the same title.
- Putting the setup first. 'My Honest Thoughts After Trying the New' is what the sidebar shows; the subject is what it cut.
- Testing only on desktop. The phone feed and the sidebar are where most truncation happens.
- Using the whole 100 characters. The field allows it; no surface displays it.
- Fixing truncation by shortening the payoff. Move it forward instead; the setup is what can be cut.
Frequently asked questions
How long can a YouTube title be?
Up to 100 characters; YouTube rejects longer titles. What viewers actually see is shorter and depends on the surface, because YouTube clamps the title at two rendered lines rather than a character count.
How many characters before a YouTube title gets cut off?
There is no fixed number, which is why this tool measures pixels. The suggested sidebar shows about two lines at 13 pixels in a 168-pixel column, the desktop feed two lines at 16 pixels in 360, and a title of wide capitals truncates far earlier than one of narrow lowercase letters.
Does YouTube truncate titles on mobile?
Yes. The phone feed clamps at two lines like the other surfaces, at a font size and column width of its own, which the checker measures separately. It is often the second surface to fail after the suggested sidebar.
Should I keep YouTube titles under 60 characters?
It is a reasonable habit but not a guarantee. Sixty wide characters can fail the sidebar while seventy narrow ones pass. Check the actual measurement, and put the payoff in the first five or six words so a cut costs you the setup rather than the point.
Is my title sent anywhere?
No. The measurement runs in your browser using canvas text metrics in YouTube's font. Nothing is uploaded.
Can it write the title as well as check it?
Not this page. The free YouTube title generator on this site writes six titles on six strategies for a video you describe; paste the winner here to check where it truncates.