✂️ Truncate Text
Cut any text to an exact word or character limit. Add a custom suffix like "..." or "Read more". Live preview updates as you type.
About Text Truncator
Truncating text is essential whenever you have a strict length limit — social media bios, meta descriptions, database columns, UI cards or API response previews. This tool gives you precise control over exactly where the cut happens and what appears at the end.
Truncation Modes
- By Words — keeps the first N whole words. Ideal for blog excerpts and article previews where a natural reading break matters more than byte precision.
- By Characters — cuts at exactly N characters. Best for meta descriptions (155 chars), tweet drafts, SMS messages and any field with a hard character limit.
Custom Suffix
- Leave the suffix blank to cut cleanly — useful for meta descriptions and API payloads.
- Use
…(single ellipsis) or...(three dots) for standard reading previews. - Use
Read moreor[...]for blog excerpts and newsletter snippets. - The suffix is added after the truncated text and does not count toward your word or character limit.
Common Use Cases
- Cutting article intros for email newsletters or RSS feeds
- Trimming meta descriptions to Google's recommended 155-character limit
- Shortening user-generated content before storing in a database
- Preparing text previews for social media cards and Open Graph tags
- Truncating long titles for UI cards, tooltips and table cells
Frequently Asked Questions
What does truncate text mean?
+Truncating text means cutting it off at a set word or character limit, often adding a suffix like "..." to signal the text continues. It is commonly used in previews, meta descriptions and UI cards where long text would overflow or exceed a platform's limit.
What is the difference between word count and character count truncation?
+Word count truncation cuts after a set number of words regardless of word length, which reads more naturally. Character count truncation cuts at an exact number of characters, which is more precise for fields with strict byte or character limits such as meta descriptions or SMS messages.
Does the suffix count toward the limit?
+No. The limit you set controls the base text. The suffix is appended after truncation, so the final output may be slightly longer than your specified limit. This is the expected behaviour for most use cases.
What suffix should I use?
+The standard suffix is "..." (three dots) or the single ellipsis character "…". For blog excerpts you might use "Read more" or "[...]". For meta descriptions it is best to leave the suffix empty and cut cleanly at the character limit, as Google shows its own truncation indicator.
Will truncation cut a word in the middle?
+In word mode, no — only whole words are counted and no word is ever split. In character mode, the cut is at the exact character position, which may fall inside a word. If you want clean word boundaries, use word mode instead.