LinkedIn Text Formatter: Bold and Italic Text
Select words in your post, pick a style, copy. The counter shows what the styling costs against LinkedIn's 3,000 characters, and what the same text costs on X and Bluesky.
How to make bold text on LinkedIn
LinkedIn's post composer has no bold or italic button. Bold and italic on LinkedIn are Unicode letters drawn in that style, pasted in as text. Select words below, pick a style, copy. Most styled letters cost 2 of LinkedIn's 3,000 characters, and screen readers and LinkedIn search may not read them.
Styling adds 30 units on LinkedIn compared with the plain text.
UTF-16 code units. Most styled letters cost 2, a plain letter 1.
Weighted characters. Most styled letters cost 2. A link costs 23. Premium accounts can post longer.
Graphemes. A styled letter is 1 grapheme, same as a plain one.
UTF-8 bytes. Most styled letters are 4 bytes. Bluesky enforces this ceiling as well as the 300.
Styled text is not read like normal text
Screen readers may not read styled letters as words, and LinkedIn search may not match a styled word to a plain-text search. Style a heading or one phrase, not the whole post, and keep names, keywords, hashtags and links plain.
How one bold letter counts on each platform
A bold letter like ð is a single character on screen but sits outside Unicode's Basic Multilingual Plane, so each platform charges it differently. As of September 2026:
| Platform | Counted in | Plain B | Bold ð | Limit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| UTF-16 code units | 1 | 2 | 3,000 | |
| X | Weighted characters | 1 | 2 | 280 |
| Bluesky | Graphemes | 1 | 1 | 300 |
| Bluesky | UTF-8 bytes | 1 | 4 | 3,000 |
Underline and strikethrough work differently: they add a combining mark after each letter, which costs 1 extra unit on LinkedIn and X and nothing extra in Bluesky graphemes.
Using bold and italic well on LinkedIn
Bold the hook, not the post
One bold line at the top does more than a fully bold post, and costs far fewer characters.
Keep searchable words plain
LinkedIn search may not match styled letters. Your name, your product and the topic you want to be found for belong in plain text.
Leave hashtags and mentions alone
A styled hashtag or mention stops being one. This formatter skips anything starting with # or @, and links.
Use Plain text to undo
Select styled words and click Plain text to turn them back into normal letters, for example before you reuse the post somewhere else.
Schedule the post to LinkedIn, X and Bluesky
OpenTweet posts to X, Bluesky and your LinkedIn personal profile from one draft or one API call. The composer counts each platform the way it enforces its limit, so the formatted version fits everywhere you send it.
7-day free trial, then from $11.99/mo. Bluesky and LinkedIn on every plan.
LinkedIn Text Formatter FAQ
How do I make bold text on LinkedIn?
LinkedIn's post composer has no bold button (as of September 2026). Bold-looking text on LinkedIn is made of Unicode letters that are drawn bold, which you paste in as ordinary text. Type your post in this formatter, select the words, click Bold, then copy and paste the result into LinkedIn.
How do I write in italics on LinkedIn?
The same way as bold. Select the words in the formatter above, click Italic, and copy. The italic letters are Unicode characters, so they survive being pasted into the LinkedIn composer, a comment or your headline.
Does bold text count more against LinkedIn's 3,000 character limit?
Yes. Counted in UTF-16 code units, which is the strict reading of the 3,000 limit, most styled letters cost 2 units while a plain letter costs 1. A fully bold post can reach the limit at roughly half the words. The counter above shows the live count and how many units the styling added.
Can screen readers read bold text on LinkedIn?
Not reliably. Screen readers may not read styled Unicode letters as words, and LinkedIn search may not match a styled word to a plain-text search. Style a heading or a single phrase, and keep names, keywords you want to be found by, hashtags and links in plain text.
Does the same formatted text work on X and Bluesky?
It displays the same, but each platform counts it differently. X counts most styled letters as 2 of its 280 weighted characters. Bluesky counts each styled letter as 1 of its 300 graphemes, but as 4 bytes against its 3,000 byte ceiling. The counter above shows all three for your text.
Can I schedule formatted posts to LinkedIn?
Yes. Styled letters are plain Unicode text, so they publish as written. OpenTweet posts to your LinkedIn personal profile, X and Bluesky from one draft or one API call, counts LinkedIn in UTF-16 code units against 3,000 just like this tool, and publishes hashtags and mentions as plain text. Plans start at $11.99/mo with a 7-day trial.
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