LinkedIn Post Preview and Hook Checker
Paste a draft and see it as a feed card, with "…more" exactly where LinkedIn cuts it on desktop and in the app. Underneath, the hook checker grades the lines people read before they decide to click.
Hook check
Almost thereWhere the cut lands
- ! Opening line should be under 60 charactersA short first line reads at a glance, even on a phone.73 / 60
- ✓ Opening should start with words, not a hashtag or link
- ✓ Opening should skip clichés like “Excited to share”
- ✓ First paragraph should fit before “…more” on phones73 / 132
- ✓ Opening should be on its own line
- ✓ Links should go after the cut
- ✓ Hashtags should go after the cut
Short version: LinkedIn shows about 3 lines of a post before "…more": roughly 210 characters on desktop and 140 in the mobile app, and a blank line uses up a whole line. The hook checker below runs the 7 rules of Post Formatter's Hook check, including an opening line of 60 characters or less and no hashtag or link above the cut.
Updated October 2026
How Many Characters Show Before "…more" on LinkedIn?
LinkedIn doesn't publish a number. The feed clamps a post to 3 lines and puts "…more" on the third, right after the last word that still leaves room for it. In characters that works out to the budgets below. The tool measures your actual draft instead, because Unicode bold is wider than plain text and every blank line costs a full line.
| Where | Shown before "…more" | Lines | Text box |
|---|---|---|---|
| Desktop feed | About 210 characters | 3, blank lines included | 526 px wide, 14 px text |
| Mobile app | About 140 characters | 3, blank lines included | 343 px on a 375 px phone |
| Whole post | 3,000 characters max | Unlimited after the click | Same box, expanded |
Why the cut matters so much, and what belongs above it, is the subject of our guide to the LinkedIn see more cutoff. For headline, About and comment limits, use the LinkedIn character counter.
What the LinkedIn Hook Checker Checks
This is the Hook check from the Post Formatter extension: the same seven rules, the same thresholds, running in your browser. Three of them look at the opening on every post. The other four only count when LinkedIn actually cuts the post, since a post that shows in full has no fold to get wrong.
| Check | What passes | Scored when |
|---|---|---|
| Opening should start with words, not a hashtag or link | The first line holds at least one real word (two letters or more) outside hashtags, links, mentions and emoji. Unicode bold or italic letters count as words. | Always |
| Opening line should be under 60 characters | The first non-empty line is 60 characters or less, counted after Unicode styling is removed. Longer first lines wrap on a phone. | Always |
| Opening should skip clichés like “Excited to share” | The opening doesn't start with one of 55 stock English openers, such as "Excited to share", "Happy Monday" or "Hi everyone". | Always |
| First paragraph should fit before “…more” on phones | The whole first paragraph, up to the first blank line, is visible before "…more" in the mobile app. | The app cuts the post |
| Opening should be on its own line | The opening line has a line break after it, so the cut lands between thoughts. | The post gets cut |
| Links should go after the cut | No URL appears before "…more". | The post gets cut |
| Hashtags should go after the cut | No hashtag appears before "…more". | The post gets cut |
The verdict only counts checks that apply to your draft. Pass all of them and it says "Ready to post". Miss one or two and it says "Almost there". Three or more misses gives "Needs work".
How to Check Your LinkedIn Hook Before Posting
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Paste your draft
Paste the post into the editor. Unicode bold and italic, emoji, hashtags and line breaks show up the way the feed shows them.
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Find the cut
The preview puts "…more" where LinkedIn will. Switch between Desktop and Mobile: the app usually cuts earlier.
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Work through the hook check
Fix the flagged checks from the top. Each one says what to change, and the meter updates while you type.
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Copy and post
Once it reads "Ready to post", copy the text and paste it into LinkedIn.
Run the Hook Check Inside LinkedIn
The free Post Formatter Chrome extension formats posts right inside the composer on LinkedIn, X, Facebook, Threads and more. Pro adds this preview while you type, with the "…more" cut marked and the Hook check under it, plus drafts with folders and AI proofreading.
Add to Chrome, It's Free