YouTube fields that accept styled letters
YouTube descriptions, channel descriptions and comments accept Unicode symbols, so styled letters paste in as they are. They make useful headings inside a long description, such as a bold “Links” or “Credits” label.
Think twice before styling a title. Titles are capped at 100 characters and they’re what people search for, so styled letters can make a video harder to find.
How styled letters count on YouTube
The YouTube Data API counts the 5,000-character description limit in bytes. A plain English letter is 1 byte, but most styled letters take 4 bytes in UTF-8, and the rest take 2 or 3. So a styled heading uses about four times its length: ten bold letters cost about 40 bytes.
Keep it readable for everyone
Viewers using screen readers may hear styled letters as symbols or not at all. Keep the important parts of the description, such as what the video covers and any links, in plain text, and use styled letters only for decorative headings.
Ideas for YouTube
- Bold section headings in a long description: Links, Gear, Credits.
- A styled sign-off in your channel description.
- Monospace for code or settings in a tutorial description.
- Plain digits for timestamps, because styled digits aren’t recognized as times.
From styled draft to scheduled YouTube post
Postocial publishes YouTube videos and Shorts with your title, description and custom thumbnail. Paste your styled headings into the description, check the length and schedule the upload.
Check title and description length with the YouTube counter.