Back to LinkedIn Tools
Writing100% Free

LinkedIn Post Preview

See where the “see more” cut lands on desktop and mobile before you post, so the hook never gets buried.

0 / 3,000 characters
Try a sample:

The feed preview appears here as you type. It shows where the “see more” cut lands on desktop and mobile.

The fold decides who reads the rest

In the feed, LinkedIn shows the opening of your post and hides the rest behind “see more”. Everything after that cut is read only by people the opening already convinced.

Most posts are written top to bottom and judged top only. The preview above exists to make that judgement visible before you publish, instead of after.

Where the cut actually lands

LinkedIn trims by rendered lines and screen width, not by an exact character count, and it adjusts these numbers now and then. These approximations are close enough to write against:

DeviceVisible before the cutLine cap
DesktopAbout 210 charactersAbout 3 lines
MobileAbout 140 charactersAbout 2 lines

How to use the preview

  1. Paste your draft into the box.
  2. Check the mobile view first. It is the stricter cut, and where most of your audience reads.
  3. Look at what survives above the fold. If the hook is not fully there, rewrite the opening, not the post.
  4. Watch the line cap: early line breaks can trigger the cut before the character limit does.
  5. Tap “see more” in the preview to check the full post reads well too.

Writing for the fold

  • Open with the result, the number, or the claim. Context can come second.
  • Cut warmup phrases. “I've been thinking a lot lately” spends the fold on nothing.
  • Put a line break after the hook. It sharpens the cut instead of fighting it.
  • Do not waste opening characters on tags or hashtags.

What moves the cut around

Two drafts of the same length can fold in very different places, because the cut reacts to what is in the opening, not just how long it is:

In your openingEffect on the cut
Early line breaksTrigger the line cap before the character threshold does
One long first paragraphRuns to the character threshold and folds mid-sentence
Styled Unicode charactersCan count as two characters each, pulling the fold earlier
EmojiCount against the limit and widen lines faster than letters
Hashtags and @mentionsSpend visible characters on the least persuasive words

Five hooks that survive the cut

  • The number. “We deleted our signup form and drop-off fell from 60% to 25%.” Specifics stop the scroll.
  • The claim. “Most content calendars die in week three.” Invite the reader to check theirs.
  • The mistake. “We spent four months building a feature nobody used.” Costly lessons read as generosity.
  • The before and after. “Six months ago nobody replied to our posts. Last week a customer quoted one back to us.”
  • The question with stakes. “What does your posting schedule assume an infinite supply of?” Only works when the post answers it.

Terms on this page

TermWhat it means
The foldThe point where the feed hides the rest of a post behind “…see more”.
HookThe opening line whose job is to earn the tap on “see more”.
Line capThe maximum rendered lines shown before the fold, regardless of characters.
Character thresholdThe approximate character count where the fold lands without line breaks.
3,000 limitThe hard maximum length of a LinkedIn post, counted in characters.

Frequently asked questions

Can you preview a LinkedIn post before posting?
Not inside LinkedIn itself. The composer shows your text, but not where the feed will fold it behind “see more”, and there is no draft preview of the final card. That is the gap this online tool fills: paste the draft and see the desktop and mobile fold before you publish, with no login and no signup.
How many characters before “see more” on LinkedIn?
Roughly 210 characters on desktop and 140 on mobile, but LinkedIn actually cuts by rendered lines and screen width rather than an exact count. Early line breaks can trigger the cut sooner. Treat the numbers as close approximations and check your draft in the preview.
Does LinkedIn cut by characters or by lines?
By lines as rendered on the reader's screen. Character counts are just the convenient approximation. The preview applies both: a character threshold and a line cap, whichever comes first, which is why a short post with several line breaks can still get cut.
Why does mobile show less than desktop?
A narrower screen fits fewer words per line, and the mobile feed shows fewer lines before folding. Since most LinkedIn reading happens on phones, the mobile cut is the one worth writing for.
Is this an exact copy of LinkedIn's feed?
No, deliberately. It is a labelled mockup that gets the one load-bearing detail right: where the fold lands on each device. It uses this site's own styling rather than LinkedIn's branding, and the cut points are honest approximations of behaviour LinkedIn does not document.
What is the LinkedIn post character limit?
3,000 characters for a standard post. Very few posts should get near it. The limit that changes outcomes is the fold, which arrives before character 210, and that is what this tool previews.
Is my draft uploaded anywhere?
No. The preview runs entirely in your browser. Your text never leaves the page, and there is no signup.
Do line breaks count toward the character limit?
Yes, each line break is a character. More importantly, they interact with the fold: the feed caps rendered lines as well as characters, so a post with several early line breaks folds sooner than its character count suggests. The preview applies both rules, whichever comes first.
Does the preview work for company page posts?
Yes. Company page posts fold in the feed the same way personal posts do, so the cut points apply unchanged. Set the name field to the page name and read the preview as your page's post.
Do hashtags and mentions show before the fold?
They show wherever you put them, which is the problem: a hashtag in the opening line spends fold characters on a word no one reads for meaning. Keep the opening for the hook, and move tags to the end of the post where they cost nothing.
What is a good first line for a LinkedIn post?
One that gives a stranger a reason to tap “see more”: a specific number, a checkable claim, an expensive mistake, or a before-and-after. The patterns above are starting points. What never works is warming up, because the fold arrives before the warmup ends.
Should I write the post here or just check it here?
Either. This page is tuned for checking a finished draft against the fold. If you want to write and format in one place, with styling, lists, and this same preview beside the text, the post editor tool is built for that.

Keep reading

More free tools

LinkedIn Post Checker

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

Use tool

LinkedIn Post Editor

Write and edit your post with styling, lists, a live character count, and the feed preview beside the text as you type.

Use tool

Free LinkedIn Post Generator

Generate three LinkedIn posts on your topic, each taking a genuinely different angle, with the hook up front.

Use tool

Free LinkedIn Text Formatter

Make bold, italic, and styled text that survives pasting into LinkedIn. Select the words, pick a style, copy the result.

Use tool

LinkedIn About Section Preview

See which lines of your About section survive above the “see more” fold on desktop and mobile.

Use tool

LinkedIn Ad Preview & Mockup Generator

Mock up a sponsored post and see where the intro text folds and the headline clips, before Campaign Manager and before spend.

Use tool
Take the first step

Stop letting LinkedIn be a chore.

Your customers, investors, and next hires are already on LinkedIn. And you already have the material: testimonials, blog posts, releases. BuntingPost turns it into a LinkedIn presence that runs itself. Connect, approve, and watch it happen.

Join the waitlistStarts at $49
4.8

Used by 129+ founders

Lifetime deals from $49 · 7-day refund