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Free tool
LinkedIn connection note checker
Paste the note you’d send with a LinkedIn invitation. The checker counts it against LinkedIn’s 200-character limit and flags what gets notes ignored: a pitch in the first message, a stock opener, a broken merge field and hype words. It runs in your browser and keeps nothing.
The checker
Paste your note. See what it needs before you send it.
0 of 200 characters.
Runs in your browser. Nothing you type is sent anywhere or saved.
The checker runs in your browser and needs JavaScript switched on. Every rule it applies is written out below, so you can check a note by eye.
What the checker found
Fits the 200-character limit
WaitingLinkedIn stops the note box at 200 characters, so anything past that is never sent. A note that runs long usually spends its first line on the sender.
No pitch in the first message
WaitingAn invitation is a request to talk, not a sales call. A demo, a meeting ask, a link or a line about what you sell tells them the note is about you, and most people decline or ignore it.
No generic lines
WaitingLines like “I came across your profile” or “I’d love to connect” fit every person on LinkedIn, so they tell this person nothing about why you picked them.
No broken merge fields
WaitingAn unfilled {FirstName} or [Company] proves the note came from a template, and it is the one mistake people screenshot and share.
No hype words
WaitingGrowth multipliers, rocket and game metaphors, promised results and stacked exclamation marks read as an advert. Plain words about their situation read as a person.
Ends on one question they can answer
WaitingA note with no question gives them nothing to reply to, and two questions make them choose. One question about their situation, answerable in a line, gets replies.
How an operator would rewrite it
SampleA note that pitches in the first message, and the version we’d send instead. Invented people, no real prospect’s words.
Hi Mark, we’re a security compliance platform that gets SaaS companies audit-ready in weeks. Open to a quick demo this week?
124 characters
Hi Mark, saw the new Security and Compliance Lead role on your careers page. Is that hire for an audit coming up, or for the questionnaires sales keeps sending over?
165 characters
The rewrite names a public reason he can check and asks about his situation. The product can wait until he answers.
The rules
What the checker looks for.
Six rules, the same ones we apply before any note goes out from a client’s profile. Five are about what to leave out; the sixth is the one thing every note needs, a question the person can answer in a line.
Fits the 200-character limit. LinkedIn stops the note box at 200 characters, so anything past that is never sent. A note that runs long usually spends its first line on the sender.
No pitch in the first message. An invitation is a request to talk, not a sales call. A demo, a meeting ask, a link or a line about what you sell tells them the note is about you, and most people decline or ignore it.
No generic lines. Lines like “I came across your profile” or “I’d love to connect” fit every person on LinkedIn, so they tell this person nothing about why you picked them.
No broken merge fields. An unfilled {FirstName} or [Company] proves the note came from a template, and it is the one mistake people screenshot and share.
No hype words. Growth multipliers, rocket and game metaphors, promised results and stacked exclamation marks read as an advert. Plain words about their situation read as a person.
Ends on one question they can answer. A note with no question gives them nothing to reply to, and two questions make them choose. One question about their situation, answerable in a line, gets replies.
The checks are patterns, so they catch the common mistakes and miss the subtle ones. None of them can tell whether your note names a real reason for picking this person, which matters more than all six. How to find that reason is in the LinkedIn outreach guide.
The source
What LinkedIn says about invitation notes.
LinkedIn’s help page on personalizing invitations says each note can be up to 200 characters. Its pages disagree on how many notes a free account gets each month, so both figures are below with their dates.
| Question | What LinkedIn Help says | Source |
|---|---|---|
| How long can a note be? | “Each message can be up to 200 characters” | a563153, updated about 5 months before we read it |
| How many notes on a free account? | “up to three connection requests per month” on the newer page; an older page says five | a563153; a550555, updated about a year before |
| And on Premium? | Unlimited personalized invitations, though “connection request limits may still apply” | a563153 |
LinkedIn changes limits in the app before its help pages catch up, and signed-in members, Premium members especially, can see different numbers. If the counter in your own composer disagrees with this page, believe the composer.
Common questions.
All questionsIs the LinkedIn connection note limit 200 or 300 characters?
LinkedIn’s help page says 200, read on 28 Sep 2026, and that is the limit this checker uses. Plenty of guides still say 300. Wherever that number came from, a note written to 300 won’t fit in the box LinkedIn’s help page describes.
Do emoji count as one character?
Not always. The checker counts the way a browser text box does, so an emoji or an unusual symbol can use two of the 200. LinkedIn doesn’t publish how its own counter treats them, which is one more reason to leave them out of a first note.
Does a note get more invitations accepted?
Not on its own. In Belkins’ study of 15.1 million LinkedIn touchpoints, invitations with a note were accepted slightly less often than blank ones, 25.3% against 27.6%, but drew more replies, 8.2% against 5.3% (Belkins, updated June 2026, checked 28 Sep 2026). A good note buys the conversation, not the click on Accept.
Is my note saved or sent anywhere?
No. The checker is a small script that runs in your browser tab. It makes no network requests with what you type, stores nothing, and forgets the note when you close the page.
Where can I see more rewrites?
LinkedIn cold message examples, rewritten has ten notes founders delete after one line, each rewritten with the reason for every change, plus three replies and how to answer them.
Rather have a person write them?
A GTM engineer on our team scores your LinkedIn profile, names the 10 people we’d contact first and writes the first line for each. Free, within 24 hours.
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