How to use the SERP simulator
- 1Type your Title and Meta description. The meters show estimated pixel width and whether it fits.
- 2Add the Page URL; it becomes the breadcrumb line under the site name.
- 3Optionally fill Site name, Date and Bold keyword (Google bolds words that match the search).
- 4Switch the preview between Desktop and Mobile, then Copy the HTML.
Example: one description, two devices
Title: Sourdough Starter: How to Make, Feed and Store It Description: Make a sourdough starter with just flour and water in 7 days. Learn when to feed it, how to store it in the fridge and how to revive a neglected starter.
Title: 49 characters, ~457 px → fits on desktop Description: 153 characters, ~853 px Desktop (920 px): shown in full Mobile (680 px): “Make a sourdough starter with just flour and water in 7 days. Learn when to feed it, how to store it in the fridge and ...”
The same description fits on desktop but is cut on mobile, so the most important point belongs in the first sentence.
Desktop vs mobile snippets
On desktop, Google shows the title on one line and cuts it with an ellipsis when it runs out of room; descriptions get roughly two lines. On mobile, titles can wrap onto a second line, so they are cut less often, but descriptions have less room. The preview shows both: desktop truncates the title at about 600 px; mobile wraps it and cuts the description at about 680 px.
Both layouts show the site name and a breadcrumb-style URL above the title, built here from your page URL (example.com › baking › sourdough-starter).
How truncation is calculated
Each character has a width: in Arial at 20 px, W is about 19 px wide and i about 4 px. The simulator adds up character widths (standard Arial metrics) and compares the total with:
| Element | Font size used | Limit |
|---|---|---|
| Title | 20 px | ~600 px |
| Description, desktop | 13 px | ~920 px |
| Description, mobile | 13 px | ~680 px |
When text is over the limit, it's cut at the last whole word that fits and " ..." is added. Google publishes none of these numbers; they are the benchmarks snippet tools converge on from observing results.
Site name, favicon and breadcrumbs
Google chooses the site name from WebSite structured data, og:site_name, the title and other signals; enter yours under Site name to see it, or leave it empty to show the domain. The favicon is a placeholder here: Google recommends a square favicon of at least 48 × 48 px that Googlebot is allowed to crawl. The URL line can be replaced by your breadcrumb trail if you add BreadcrumbList markup with the schema markup generator.
Why the live result may differ
- Google rewrites a large share of titles, often using the H1 or anchor text, when the title is long, repetitive or boilerplate.
- The snippet text is chosen per query. If another passage answers the search better, Google uses that instead of your description.
- Dates come from the page or structured data, and appear only for some content.
- Rich results (stars, prices, FAQs) change the layout entirely.
To see what Google actually shows, search for your page or use the Performance report in Search Console.
Is anything I enter stored?
This tool runs entirely in your browser. Your text is not uploaded to our servers.