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LinkedIn Post Checker

Paste a draft and run eight instant checks: the 3,000 limit, the mobile fold, hashtags, links, and more. No signup.

Try a sample:

The checks run here as you type: character limit, hook placement, hashtags, links, paragraph length, and more, with a feed preview below them.

What the checker tests

LinkedIn's composer validates one thing: the 3,000 character limit. Everything else that decides how a post reads is left to you. The checker runs the pre-publish pass most people do by eye, and does it the same way every time:

CheckWhat it flags
Character limitText past 3,000 characters, which LinkedIn will not accept
Hook above the foldA first sentence that runs past the mobile “see more” cut
Opening lineWarmup phrases like “We're excited to announce”
HashtagsMore than five, or tags spending your opening characters
External linksLinks in the body you may want in the first comment
Paragraph lengthWalls of text that feed readers skim past
Styled textUnicode bold and italics that screen readers cannot read
EmojiDensity past the point where they read as noise

Why check before publishing

LinkedIn has no draft preview and no validator. The first honest render of your post is the published one, in front of your network.

You can edit a published post, but the first impression is already spent. A thirty-second check before the click costs nothing and catches the issues that are invisible in the composer.

Fix issues in this order

  1. The hook. If the first sentence runs past the mobile fold, rewrite the opening before touching anything else. It decides who reads on.
  2. The opener. Cut warmup phrases. Lead with the result, the number, or the claim.
  3. Hashtags and links. Move tags to the end. Decide whether the link earns its place in the body.
  4. Formatting. Break up long paragraphs and strip styled characters down to a word or two.

The feed symptoms behind each check

Every check exists because of something that goes visibly wrong in the feed. If you have seen the symptom, this is the check that catches it before publishing:

Symptom in the feedThe check that catches it
The post cuts off before the point landsHook above the fold
Readers scroll past a grey wall of textParagraph length
The post reads like an ad for hashtagsHashtag count and placement
Bold text shows as boxes on some devicesStyled text
The composer refuses to publishCharacter limit
The opening reads like a press releaseOpening line

When to ignore a warning

Warnings are conventions, not laws, and conventions have exceptions. A link in the body is right when the link is the point of the post. A long paragraph can be right in a story told deliberately as one breath. Six hashtags can be right for an event that lives on its tags.

The checker's job is to make each of those a decision instead of an accident. If you read the warning and disagree for a reason, that is the tool working.

What this checker does not do

It does not predict reach or score engagement. Nobody outside LinkedIn can, and tools that claim to are guessing. Every check here tests something you control in the draft itself, which is why every flag comes with a fix.

Terms on this page

TermWhat it means
Blocking issueSomething LinkedIn will refuse outright, like text past 3,000 characters.
WarningA convention worth a look, safe to overrule for a reason.
HookThe opening line that must survive the mobile fold to do its job.
Wall of textA paragraph long enough that feed readers skim past it.
Styled UnicodeBold and italic lookalike characters, invisible to search and screen readers.
First commentThe common home for a link kept out of the post body.

Frequently asked questions

How do I test a LinkedIn post before publishing?
LinkedIn itself offers no way to do it: there is no draft preview and no validator in the composer. Paste your draft into the checker above instead. It runs eight checks on the mechanics, from the character limit to hashtag placement, and shows a feed preview with the “see more” cut marked on desktop and mobile.
What does a LinkedIn post checker look for?
Things you control in the draft: length against the 3,000 character limit, whether the first sentence survives the mobile fold, warmup openers, hashtag count and placement, links in the body, paragraph length, styled Unicode characters, and emoji density. Each flag says what to change, not just what was found.
How many hashtags should a LinkedIn post have?
LinkedIn documents no number. The common convention is three to five relevant tags at the end of the post. More than that starts to read as spam to human readers, whatever the algorithm thinks, and tags in the opening spend your fold characters on the least persuasive words in the post.
Do bold or styled characters hurt a LinkedIn post?
They carry real costs. The bold and italic lookalikes are Unicode symbols, not formatting, so screen readers spell them out character by character and search may not match the words inside them. A single styled word for emphasis is a defensible trade; whole styled sentences lock out part of your audience.
Should the link go in the post or the first comment?
There is no documented rule, and tests people publish disagree. Many writers move the link to the first comment so the post stands on its own; others keep it in the body because the comment link gets lost on reshares. The checker flags body links so the placement is a decision, not an accident.
Does this predict how my post will perform?
No, deliberately. Reach depends on your audience, your timing, and LinkedIn's ranking, none of which a checker can see. What it can verify is the mechanics: that the post fits, the hook shows, and nothing in the formatting works against you. Those are the parts you control.
Is my draft uploaded anywhere?
No. The checks run entirely in your browser. Your text never leaves the page, and there is no signup.
Does LinkedIn have a built-in post validator?
No. The composer enforces exactly one rule, the 3,000 character limit, and stays silent about everything else: the fold, hashtag pile-ups, styled characters, and walls of text all publish without a word. That silence is the gap this checker fills.
What is the ideal length for a LinkedIn post?
There is no documented ideal, and claims of one are guesses. That is why the checker has no length check beyond the hard limit. What it checks instead is placement: whether the hook lands before the fold, because that decides who reads the rest at any length.
Can I check a post that is already published?
Yes. Paste the live post's text and the checks run the same way, which is useful for diagnosing why something underperformed. Just know the first impression is already spent; the fix you find applies to the next post.
How accurate are the fold numbers?
They are honest approximations. LinkedIn cuts by rendered lines and screen width, not a published character count, and it adjusts the numbers occasionally. The thresholds here are close enough to write against, and the preview marks where they land in your actual draft.
Does the checker work for comments or articles?
It is built for feed posts. Comments truncate too but with different, tighter behaviour, and LinkedIn articles are long-form pages with none of these constraints. For the two lines of your profile that behave like a post, the About-section preview tool covers that case.

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