Free tool

Google snippet preview

Google truncates titles and descriptions by pixel width, not character count. This tool measures both and shows how the result looks on desktop and on mobile.

Desktop
Mobile

Limits verified: 19 Sep 2026

Why pixels, not characters

Almost every SEO guide gives you a character count. Google does not use one. It truncates by rendered pixel width, which is why a title full of capitals and wide characters gets cut earlier than one made of narrow lowercase words of the same length. This tool measures rendered text width and gives you an approximate preview. How the result finally looks in Google depends on the query, the device and the layout of the results page.

Working limits
Title, desktop About 580 px, roughly 55–60 characters in normal sentence case.
Title, mobile Wider in practice — mobile results wrap onto a second line rather than truncating as aggressively.
Meta description About 990 px is a working estimate for this preview, not a Google limit. Google can shorten the snippet to fit the device and may pick different page text for each query.
Google may ignore what you write

Meta descriptions are a suggestion, not a directive. Google rewrites them often, especially when text elsewhere on the page matches the query better than your description does. Write one anyway — a good description wins the click when it is used, and writing it forces you to state what the page actually offers.

Why we built it

Every store migration means rewriting hundreds of titles and descriptions, and every one that gets silently truncated costs clicks. We needed a way to check them at a glance without installing anything. Doing it across a full catalogue is part of the Store & Channel Audit.

Questions & answers

How long should a title tag be?

About 580 pixels on desktop, which is roughly 55 to 60 characters in normal sentence case. Character counts are only a proxy — Google truncates by rendered width, so a title in capitals is cut earlier than the same number of lowercase characters.

How long should a meta description be?

About 990 pixels, roughly 155 characters. Below about 500 pixels the snippet looks thin and Google is more likely to replace it with text pulled from the page.

Why does Google ignore my meta description?

Because it is a suggestion, not an instruction. Google rewrites descriptions whenever it decides another passage on the page answers the query better. Write a good one anyway — it wins the click when it is used.

Does the meta description affect rankings?

Not directly. It affects click-through rate, and click-through rate affects how a result performs over time. Treat it as ad copy for a free placement rather than a ranking field.

Why does my title get cut even though it is under 60 characters?

Wide characters. Capitals, W, M and numbers take more pixels than narrow lowercase letters. Two titles with identical character counts can render 80 pixels apart, which is why this tool measures width instead of counting.

Should the brand name go in the title?

On the homepage and key landing pages, yes, usually at the end. On deep product pages it is often wasted width — the domain already appears above the title in the result.

Do these limits apply to Bing and other search engines?

Roughly. Bing tends to show slightly longer titles and descriptions. If a snippet fits Google it will fit almost everywhere else.

What happens if I leave the meta description empty?

Google generates one from the page content. Sometimes the result is fine, often it is a fragment of navigation or boilerplate. On pages that matter commercially it is worth writing your own.

Do emoji work in search results?

Google strips most of them from titles and descriptions, and those that survive consume a lot of pixel width for very little meaning. Not worth the space.

How do I check this across a whole store?

Not one page at a time. A crawl exports every title and description, then the widths are measured in bulk and the offenders sorted by traffic. That is part of what the audit covers.