HTML attribute: maxlength

The maxlength attribute defines the maximum string length that the user can enter into an <input> or <textarea>. The attribute must have an integer value of 0 or higher.

The length is measured in UTF-16 code units, which (for most scripts) is equivalent to the number of characters. If no maxlength is specified, or an invalid value is specified, the input has no maximum length.

Any maxlength value must be greater than or equal to the value of minlength, if present and valid. The input will fail constraint validation if the length of the text value of the field is greater than maxlength UTF-16 code units long. Constraint validation is only applied when the value is changed by the user.

Constraint validation

While the browser will generally prevent user from entering more text than the maxlength attribute allows, should the length be longer than the maxlength allows, the read-only tooLong property of a ValidityState object will be true.

Try it

Examples

html
<input type="password" maxlength="4" />

Specifications

Specification
HTML Standard
# attr-input-maxlength
HTML Standard
# attr-textarea-maxlength

Browser compatibility

html.elements.input.maxlength

Report problems with this compatibility data on GitHub
desktopmobile
Chrome
Edge
Firefox
Opera
Safari
Chrome Android
Firefox for Android
Opera Android
Safari on iOS
Samsung Internet
WebView Android
WebView on iOS
maxlength

Legend

Tip: you can click/tap on a cell for more information.

Full support
Full support

html.elements.textarea.maxlength

Report problems with this compatibility data on GitHub
desktopmobile
Chrome
Edge
Firefox
Opera
Safari
Chrome Android
Firefox for Android
Opera Android
Safari on iOS
Samsung Internet
WebView Android
WebView on iOS
maxlength

Legend

Tip: you can click/tap on a cell for more information.

Full support
Full support
See implementation notes.

See also