Unicode SMS Messages and Emojis
When you add an emoji or other special character, your SMS switches from the standard GSM-7 format to Unicode, reducing the character limit per message part.
Key differences:
- GSM-7 SMS allows up to 160 characters per message part.
- Unicode SMS (includes emojis) only allows 70 characters per message part.
- Emojis can count for between 2 and 5 characters, depending on the selected emoji.
What counts as Unicode?
- Emojis 😊 🚀
- Some Non-English characters (e.g. ã, æ¼¢å—)
- Some symbols (e.g. ♂︎, ™)
When you have opted to include Unicode in your SMS, the character counter will adjust to reflect the lower available character count of 70 per message part.
To minimize the number of message parts being sent, avoid using Unicode in your SMS messages where possible.