What is the maximum meta description length?

Question: How long should my meta descriptions be? The app says the maximum is 320 characters, but I have heard that Google's maximum is 160 characters?

Answer: Google often changes how they display search results. In recent years, Google has displayed up to 320 characters in meta descriptions, so that is the maximum shown in the app.

Currently, Google typically cuts off meta descriptions at 155 to 160 characters on desktop screens, or 120 characters on mobile screens. So even though Google may occasionally show more than that, a good rule of thumb is to make sure that the most important content in your meta descriptions is near the beginning, in the first 120 characters. That way, your most important information is more likely to appear in search results. (However, in some cases Google chooses not to show the meta description at all, showing text from the page content instead. See this report for more on that.)