YouTube title checker:
see where your title gets cut.
A YouTube title can be up to 100 characters. Screens show fewer than that, so a long title loses its ending. Paste yours to see exactly where it is cut on the home feed, on a phone, in the sidebar and in search.
Everything runs in your browser. Your title and thumbnail never leave your device.
Checks
Things worth a look before you publish. Not a grade: nothing here predicts how many people will click.
- FineLength
82 of 100 characters. 18 characters to spare.
- FineFront-loading
“editing youtube videos” sits at characters 9 to 30, visible in all 4 places.
- FineCapitals
21% capitals. Normal capitalisation.
- FineEmoji
No emoji.
- FinePunctuation
No repeated punctuation.
- FineRepeated words
No repeated words.
- InfoNumbers
Has 1 number: “30”.
- FineBrackets and symbols
1 bracketed part: “(Here’s What Happened)”.
- InfoThumbnail text
Type the words on your thumbnail above to check that it does not just repeat the title.
Now make the thumbnail that goes with this title
A title and a thumbnail work as one message. Generate a thumbnail that fits this title in the Base.Tube Studio.
How long can a YouTube title be?
100 characters. That is YouTube's own limit. Its Help Center says video titles have a limit of 100 characters and cannot include invalid characters, and its developer documentation names the invalid ones: the angle brackets < and >.
The limit is a ceiling, not a target. YouTube cuts long titles with an ellipsis, and where it cuts depends on the screen. We measured YouTube's layouts on 29 September 2026. The table shows where a 100-character title is cut.
| Where | Title width | Lines | Cut after (characters) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Desktop home feed | 275 px | 2 | about 60 to 70 |
| Mobile feed | 278 px | 2 | about 70 to 85 |
| Suggested videos sidebar | 136 px | 3 | about 45 to 58 |
| Desktop search | 588 px | 2 | almost all 100 |
Measured on youtube.com in a 1440 px window and on a 390 px wide phone, using 183 real video titles from YouTube search extended to 100 characters. Capital letters and wide characters fit fewer, narrow letters fit more. YouTube changes its layouts, so treat these as a guide and use the checker above for your own title.
Sources: YouTube Help, Upload videos, YouTube Help, Edit video settings, YouTube Data API, Videos.
Put the words that matter first.
Because the end of a title is what gets cut, the start does the most work. Say what the video is about in the first 40 to 50 characters, and it stays visible on every screen in the checker.
- Subject first. Type your main keyword in the checker to see where it sits, and whether it survives the cut.
- Extras last. Text in brackets, such as (Full Course), is often the first thing to be cut. Leading tags and emoji use up characters before the topic starts.
- Spend characters on words. Repeated punctuation like !!! and long stretches of capitals take room without adding meaning.
The title and the thumbnail should say different things.
Viewers see them together, in one glance. If both carry the same words, the second one is wasted space. A useful split: the title says what the video is. The thumbnail shows the payoff, a feeling, or a detail the title leaves out.
Type the words on your thumbnail into the checker and it tells you how many repeat the title. To see your thumbnail on more screens, use the YouTube thumbnail preview.
- Title
I Edited Only on My Phone for 30 Days
ThumbnailThe phone on a desk, and one word: “Worth it?”
- Title
How I Built a Standing Desk Under $100
ThumbnailThe finished desk, with “$87” in large type
- Title
Why Your Sourdough Will Not Rise
ThumbnailA flat loaf next to a tall one
Examples of the idea, not real videos.
It shows how a title reads. YouTube decides if it gets clicked.
This tool does not score your title and cannot predict clicks. Nothing can, from text alone. The only real test is how a title and thumbnail perform on YouTube, in your own impressions and click-through rate. Base.Tube measures that for you when you connect your channel.
Questions about YouTube titles.
What is the YouTube title character limit?
A YouTube video title can be up to 100 characters. YouTube Help says: "Video titles have a character limit of 100 characters and cannot include invalid characters." In YouTube’s developer documentation, the invalid characters are the angle brackets < and >. This checker counts each emoji as one character. YouTube does not say how it counts emoji, so leave a little room if your title has them.
How many characters of a YouTube title are actually visible?
It depends on the screen and on the letters. We measured YouTube’s layouts on 29 September 2026 (a 1440 px desktop window and a 390 px phone). A 100-character title showed about 60 to 70 characters on the desktop home feed, 70 to 85 on a mobile feed, 45 to 58 in the suggested-videos sidebar, and almost all 100 in desktop search. Capital letters and wide characters fit fewer, narrow letters fit more. Paste your own title above to see where it is cut.
Is this a YouTube SEO title checker, and does it score my title?
It does not give a score and it cannot predict clicks. It shows how your title reads and where it is cut, and flags things worth a second look, such as long stretches of capitals or repeated punctuation. On SEO, it checks the parts that are in your hands: length, where your main keyword sits, and how the title looks on each screen. It does not look up search volume or rankings. Keyword research tools do that. The only real test of a title and thumbnail is how they perform on YouTube, in your own impressions and click-through rate.
Can I use emoji, brackets, ALL CAPS or exclamation marks in a YouTube title?
Yes. YouTube only rejects the characters < and >. The checker flags the others as things to look at, not as errors, because they cost characters and look different on small screens: emoji are tiny on a phone, text in brackets at the end is the first to be cut, and long stretches of capitals are harder to read.
Should my title repeat the words on my thumbnail?
Usually not. Viewers see the two together, so repeating the same words wastes space. A useful split is: the title says what the video is, and the thumbnail shows the payoff, a feeling or a detail the title leaves out. Type the words from your thumbnail into the checker and it tells you how many repeat the title.
Is the checker free, and is my title private?
It is free, with no sign-up. Everything runs in your browser. Your titles and any thumbnail you add are never uploaded and never leave your device.