Why the Pinterest Title Character Limit Is 100 but Feeds Show 40

A Pin title can hold 100 characters, which is the Pinterest title character limit stated in both Pinterest's product specs and its API schema. The number that decides whether anyone reads the title is smaller. Pinterest says the first 40 characters are what show in feeds on some devices, so the practical budget for the words that earn the click is 40, not 100.

What is the Pinterest title character limit?

Pinterest caps a Pin title at 100 characters, and the cap is the same for organic Pins and for the ad formats built on them. The product specs repeat one sentence under every standard format: "Enter up to 100 characters. Depending on the device, the first 40 characters may show in people's feeds. When entered, titles will appear in the home feed or search feed."

The API says the same thing in machine terms. In Pinterest's v5 OpenAPI description, version 5.28.0, the title property on the Pin, PinCreate and PinUpdate schemas is a nullable string with a maxLength of 100. The neighbouring fields on the same schema have their own caps.

Pin field	API property	Maximum
Title	title	100 characters
Description	description	800 characters
Alt text	alt_text	500 characters
Link	link	2,048 characters

The title is the short, visible field and the description is the long, mostly hidden one. Pinterest states that "Descriptions do not appear when viewing the Pin in the home feed or search feed." The title does appear there, which makes it the one piece of Pin text most people see.

How many title characters show in the Pinterest feed?

Pinterest shows the first 40 characters of a title in feeds on some devices, and the first 30 for double byte languages. The product specs put the second rule in a note: "For Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Arabic and other double byte languages, only the first 30 characters will show in people's feeds."

That gives a Pin title three lengths that matter:

1. 100 characters is what Pinterest stores and what the API accepts.
2. 40 characters is what a feed can display, depending on the device.
3. 30 characters is what a feed displays for double byte languages.

Pinterest does not name which devices cut at 40 or what the rest of them show. The safe reading is that anything past character 40 is text some viewers never see in the feed, so it cannot carry the subject of the Pin. Put the subject first and let characters 41 to 100 hold detail that helps once someone opens the Pin.

A title like "Easy weeknight chickpea curry in 20 minutes with pantry spices" is 62 characters. In a feed that cuts at 40, a reader sees "Easy weeknight chickpea curry in 20 minu". The dish and the promise survive. Flip it to "With pantry spices, a 20 minute weeknight chickpea curry" and the cut lands before the word curry.

Same idea, two title orders

Subject first

• "Easy weeknight chickpea curry in 20 minutes with pantry spices"
• The 40 character cut shows "Easy weeknight chickpea curry in 20 minu"
• The dish and the promise survive

Subject last

• "With pantry spices, a 20 minute weeknight chickpea curry"
• The 40 character cut lands before the word curry
• The dish name is lost

What happens if a Pin has no title?

A Pin with no title and no Rich Pin title shows nothing in the title slot. Pinterest's wording for standard image Pins is: "If a title is not entered and no rich Pin title exists, nothing will show in its place in the home feed." Pinterest does not fill the gap from the description, so the image has to do all the work.

The same sentence names the fallback. A Rich Pin pulls metadata from the linked page, and a Rich Pin title counts as a title for this rule. Pinterest's product specs do not say which of the two wins when a Pin has both a typed title and a Rich Pin title, and the Rich Pins developer overview does not cover title handling either. If you rely on Rich Pins, check a live Pin after publishing rather than assuming.

The API treats an empty title as valid, because the schema marks title as nullable. A Pin created without one is accepted and then shows no title.

Which Pin formats share the 100 character title?

Every Pin and ad format in Pinterest's product specs uses a 100 character title, and a few formats add limits of their own on other text. The title rule does not change between standard, video, carousel and collections formats.

Format	Title limit	Other text limits
Standard image	100 characters	Description up to 800
Standard width video	100 characters	Description up to 800
Max. width video (paid only)	100 characters	Description up to 800
Carousel	100 characters	Description up to 800
Collections	100 characters	Description up to 800
Idea ads	100 characters	250 characters on each page
Quiz ads	100 characters	Questions 96, answers 48, results 100 title and 800 description
Showcase ads	Not listed	Features limited to 50 characters, text overlay to 10 words

The Showcase row is the exception worth knowing. Pinterest gives no title count for the format and instead caps each feature at 50 characters, stating "For titles, anything after 50 characters will be hidden." Treat 50 as the working title limit inside a Showcase card.

How do you write a Pin title that fits the feed?

Write the Pin title so its first 40 characters name the thing a searcher typed, then use the remaining 60 for a detail that sells the click. Pinterest calls the description the field its algorithm reads for relevance. The title is the field people read, so write it for them.

1. Name the subject in the first three or four words: the recipe, the product, the room, the outfit.
2. Count to 40 and check that the cut still makes sense on its own.
3. For Chinese, Japanese, Korean or Arabic copy, count to 30 instead.
4. Put the qualifier after the cut: the time it takes, the budget, the season, the size.
5. Stay at or under 100, the cap in both the product specs and the API schema.
6. Leave the long keyword context to the description, which holds 800 characters.

Pinterest publishes no rule for how an emoji or a combined character counts toward the 100. The schema states a maxLength on a string and stops there. If a title leans on emoji or accented characters and sits close to 100, trim it until there is headroom.

Where AdaptlyPost fits

A Pin scheduled through AdaptlyPost is an ordinary Pinterest Pin, so the 100 character title limit and the 40 character feed display apply to it the same way. The Pinterest post scheduler handles standard Pins as "Vertical image Pins with titles, descriptions, and destination links," along with video Pins, Idea Pins and product Pins, and every Pinterest post needs a board.

The Pinterest title field in AdaptlyPost is optional, and the field's help text states what happens when you leave it blank: "Empty uses the first 100 characters of the caption." That makes the first line of your caption the title by default. If the caption opens with a greeting or a hashtag, that text becomes the title, so either fill the title field or write the caption's first 40 characters as a headline. For larger batches, bulk scheduling takes a spreadsheet with image URLs, Pin titles, descriptions, destination links, board names and publish dates. Our guide on how to schedule Pinterest posts covers the planning side, and Idea Pins explains the multi-page format.

Frequently asked questions

What is the Pinterest title character limit?

A Pin title holds up to 100 characters. Pinterest states the limit in its product specs for every standard Pin and ad format, and the v5 API schema sets a maxLength of 100 on the title field of PinCreate and PinUpdate.

How many characters of a Pin title show in the feed?

Pinterest says the first 40 characters of a title show in feeds, depending on the device. For Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Arabic and other double byte languages, only the first 30 characters show. Put the subject of the Pin before that cut.

Is a Pinterest title required?

No. The API marks title as nullable, so a Pin without a title is accepted. Pinterest's product specs warn that if no title is entered and no Rich Pin title exists, nothing shows in the title's place in the home feed.

Is the Pin title limit the same as the description limit?

No. The title holds 100 characters and the description holds 800. The title appears in the home feed and search feed, while Pinterest states that descriptions do not appear there and are used by its algorithm to judge relevance for delivery.

Do Idea Pins have a different title limit?

Pinterest's product specs cover Idea Pins through Idea ads, which are organic Pins promoted as ads. The format uses the same 100 character title and adds a cap of 250 characters of text on each page. Showcase ads are the exception, with features limited to 50 characters and anything past 50 hidden.

How does AdaptlyPost fill a Pinterest title I leave blank?

AdaptlyPost's Pinterest title field is optional, and a blank title uses the first 100 characters of the caption. Fill the field yourself when the caption does not open with a headline, because Pinterest feeds show only the first 40 characters of whatever ends up in the title.

Does an emoji count as one character toward the Pinterest title limit?

Pinterest never states a rule for how an emoji or an accented, combined character counts toward the 100. The API schema sets a maxLength on the title string and stops there, without defining what counts as one unit. Treat a title that leans on emoji and sits near 100 characters as one that needs trimming for headroom.

Does the Pinterest title affect how a Pin ranks in search?

Pinterest's product specs say descriptions "are used by our algorithm to determine relevance for delivery" and say nothing about what role the title plays. The title is the field people read in the feed, so it earns the click. Put search terms in the 800 character description and keep the first 40 characters of the title for what a person needs to see.

Which title wins when a Pin has both a typed title and a Rich Pin title?

Pinterest's product specs never say which title wins when a Pin has both a typed title and a Rich Pin title pulled from the linked page. The Rich Pins developer overview does not cover title handling either. Check a live Pin after publishing instead of assuming which one the feed shows.

Do Pinterest ads use the same title limit as organic Pins?

Pinterest keeps the 100 character title cap the same for organic Pins and for the ad formats built on them, according to the product specs. Showcase ads are the one exception: the format lists no title count and instead caps each feature at 50 characters, hiding anything past that point.