TikTok post limits: caption length and video length
TikTok posts are videos: one per post, between 3 seconds and 10 minutes long. The caption can run to 2,200 characters, but only about 100 show over the video.
TikTok limits at a glance
- Caption limit
- 2,200 characters
- Visible before “more”
- ~100 characters
- Images
- Not accepted — video only
- Video length
- 3 seconds to 10 minutes
- Most media per post
- 1
- Text-only posts
- No — video required
- Links clickable in text
- No
These are the limits for publishing through a scheduling tool — TikTok’s publishing API — and they are the same rules our editor checks as you write. Posting by hand in the TikTok app can allow a little more on some limits.
Planning a TikTok post
- Keep the caption’s point in the first ~100 characters — the rest is hidden behind the video.
- Links in captions are not clickable. Send people to the link in your bio instead.
- Plan the video first; there is no text-only or image post to fall back on through publishing.
One vertical video
Through publishing, a TikTok post is one video, between 3 seconds and 10 minutes long. TikTok is built for full-screen vertical video, so shoot and edit at 9:16 — 1080 × 1920 px. Other shapes publish, but they play with bars around them and look out of place in the feed.
- Keep text and faces away from the bottom and right edges, where the caption, buttons and profile picture sit
- Make the first second count — the feed moves on fast
- Put captions on screen; plenty of people watch without sound
TikTok also has photo posts in its app. The limits on this page are for video posts.
The caption sits over the video
A TikTok caption can run to 2,200 characters, but only about 100 show over the video before it is cut off — and they sit on top of the picture. Use that line to say what the video is, or to add something the video doesn’t, not to repeat it.
Links in captions are not clickable, so a URL there only takes up space. Point people to the link in the profile.
What TikTok asks at publish time
TikTok is stricter than other networks about what a scheduling tool must show before a post goes out. The person publishing chooses who can see the post and whether others can comment, duet or stitch it, and has to say whether the post promotes a brand — their own or a paid partner’s.
Music matters too. Business accounts can only use sounds from TikTok’s commercial library, so a trending sound from a personal account may not be available to a brand. Clear the audio before the client approves the video, not after.