Question 1

What is text truncation?

Accepted Answer

Text truncation is the process of cutting off text at a specified length and adding an ellipsis (...) to indicate that the text continues. It's commonly used in UI design, social media previews, email subject lines, and meta descriptions.

Question 2

What's the difference between character and word truncation?

Accepted Answer

Character truncation cuts text at an exact number of characters (including spaces), while word truncation cuts at a whole word boundary near the limit. Word truncation produces cleaner results because it avoids cutting mid-word.

Question 3

Should I truncate by characters or words?

Accepted Answer

Use character truncation for strict length limits like Twitter (280 chars), meta descriptions (160 chars), or SMS messages (160 chars). Use word truncation when readability matters more, such as article previews or card descriptions.

Question 4

Does this tool count spaces as characters?

Accepted Answer

Yes, by default spaces are counted as characters since they contribute to the actual display length. This matches how most systems measure text limits.

Question 5

What ellipsis styles are available?

Accepted Answer

The tool supports three styles: ... (three dots), … (Unicode ellipsis character), and [...] (bracketed). The Unicode ellipsis is preferred for professional typography.

Question 6

Can I use this for meta descriptions?

Accepted Answer

Absolutely. Google displays about 155-160 characters for meta descriptions. Set the limit to 155 and truncate by characters to create SEO-friendly descriptions.

Question 7

Is my text stored or sent anywhere?

Accepted Answer

No. All processing happens entirely in your browser using JavaScript. No data is sent to any server, and nothing is stored or logged.

Question 8

Can I truncate multiple texts at once?

Accepted Answer

Currently the tool processes one text at a time, but you can paste multiple paragraphs and truncate them together. Each truncation is instant so you can quickly process texts one after another.

Text Truncator

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