Meta Description Checker
Draft search snippets against the ~155–160 characters Google typically shows before "…" — a display-width reality, not a hard limit, which is exactly why drafting to a budget matters.
160 of 160 remaining
It's pixels, not characters — draft accordingly
Google truncates snippets by rendered width, so a description full of wide letters ("W", "M") cuts sooner than one of narrow ones — which is why authoritative guidance gives a range, not a number. The working method: write your complete thought inside ~150 characters, treat 150–160 as the caution zone the bar shows, and never park the payoff at the end where variable truncation can eat it.
Frequently asked questions
Is 160 characters a hard limit?
No — and that is the most misunderstood thing about meta descriptions. There is no fixed character cap: Google truncates snippets by display width (pixels), which works out to roughly 155–160 characters on desktop and often fewer on mobile. The 160 here is a practical drafting budget, not a rule.
Does Google always use my meta description?
No — studies consistently find Google rewrites a large share of snippets, pulling page text it judges more relevant to the query. A good description improves your odds and controls the message for your primary queries, but it is a suggestion, not an instruction.
What makes a description worth the click?
Treat it as ad copy for the result: state the concrete benefit or answer the searcher’s question, include the target phrase naturally (it gets bolded when matched), front-load the substance, and end inside the budget so your call-to-action isn’t the part that gets "…"-ed.
What about title tags?
Same logic, smaller budget: Google displays roughly 50–60 characters of a title before truncating (again by width). Draft titles against 60 with the landing-page checker’s custom limit, front-loading the distinctive words.
The 160-character budget is a drafting convention for Google's display-width truncation — actual cutoffs vary by device and query. Nothing you type is transmitted or stored. See the methodology page.