Byte Counter
Count the size of any text in bytes for UTF-8, UTF-16 and UTF-32, plus the number of characters and bits. Useful for database limits, APIs and encoding checks. Runs entirely in your browser.
Size in UTF-8
0 bytes
Characters vs bytes
A character here means one Unicode code point, so an emoji counts as one. The number of bytes depends on the encoding used to store that text:
UTF-8: 1–4 bytes · UTF-16: 2 or 4 bytes · UTF-32: 4 bytes per character
Plain English letters take one byte each in UTF-8, but accented letters take two and many emoji take four, which is why byte count can exceed character count. UTF-8 is the standard for the web. Everything is measured in your browser.
What this does
A byte counter counts the size of any text in bytes for UTF-8, UTF-16, and UTF-32, plus the number of characters and bits — handy for database limits, APIs, and encoding checks.
How to use it
- Paste your text.
- Read the UTF-8 byte size.
- Compare UTF-16 and UTF-32.
- Check it against your limit.
How it works
In UTF-8, plain English letters take one byte, accented letters two, and many emoji four — so bytes can exceed the character count. UTF-8 is the web standard.
Understanding your result
Bytes can exceed the character count because accented letters and emoji take several bytes in UTF-8, which matters when a database column or API field is limited by bytes rather than characters. Check your storage limit against the UTF-8 figure, since text that fits a character count can still overflow a byte-limited field once multibyte characters appear.
Example
A four-byte emoji counts as one character but four bytes.
Sources & methodology
Last updated .
Frequently asked questions
Why do bytes differ from characters?
In UTF-8, plain English letters take one byte each, but accented letters take two and many emoji take four, so the byte total can be larger than the character count.
Which encoding should I use?
UTF-8 is the standard for the web and most files and APIs. UTF-16 and UTF-32 are shown for comparison and for systems that use fixed-width encodings.
Is my text uploaded?
No. The size is measured entirely in your browser and nothing you type is stored or sent anywhere.
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