Long Messages
A standard SMS message has a maximum of 160 characters. Longer messages are definitely possible, however please be aware that exceeding 160 characters will constitute a ‘second’ message. The end user will see this as 1 long message on their handset.
A message is longer than 160 characters is referred to as a multi-part message as it contains multiple messages (or multiple parts). The total SMS limit then becomes 153 characters per ‘part’ as the 7 characters are used up by invisible headers and footers which denote which part of the message is being sent (i.e. Part 1 of 2).
Character Count
A message can be classified as 2 types:
- Standard message – contains characters from the GSM Basic Character Set (see below)
- Unicode message – If a message contains any characters that aren’t in the GSM 03.38 basic character set, the message type is treated as Unicode.
Message Segmentation
Without Unicode –
With Unicode –
*Assuming GSM-7 encoding
GSM7 Character Set
@ £ $ ¥ è é ù ì ò Ç Ø Å ø å Δ _ Φ Γ Λ Ω Π Ψ Σ Θ æ Ξ ESC Æ
ß É! ” # ¤ % & ‘ ( ) * + , -. / 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9: < =? >; ¡ A B
C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z Ä Ö Ñ Ü § ¿
a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z ä ö ñ ü à
GSM7 Extension Characters (counted as two characters)
| ^ € { } [ ] ~
UNICODE characters
Emojis (Partial List)
😀 😁 😂 🤣 😨 😃 😄 😆 😉 😊 😋 😎 😍 😘 🥰 😗 😙
🙂 🤗 😥 😮 🤐 😯 😪 😫 😴 😌 😛 😜 😝 🤤 😒 😓 😔
🙃 🤑 😲 🙁 😖 😞 😟 😤 😢 😭 😦 😧 😅
Non-Emoji Unicode Characters
¢ ¦ ¨ © ª « ¬ ® ¯ ° ± ¹ ² ³ ´ µ ¶ · ¸ ¹ º » ¼ ½ ¾ À Á Â Ã È Ê Ë Ì Í Î Ï Ð Ò Ó Ô Õ × Ù Ú Û Ý Þ á â ã ç ê ë í î ï ð ó ô õ ÷ ú û ý þ ÿ
