Troubleshooting X (Twitter) profile update errors

You tried to save your profile and X answered with "Account update failed: Description can't include invalid characters." The "description" is your bio. X rejected something in it, but it doesn't tell you what. Here is how to find it quickly.

Quick fix

  1. Copy your bio into a plain text editor and keep a backup.
  2. Delete the bio on X and save an empty or very short bio, such as a single word. If that works, your account is fine and the problem is in the text.
  3. Add your bio back one line at a time, saving after each line. The line that triggers the error contains the culprit.
  4. Retype that line by hand instead of pasting it.

Common culprits

Hidden characters pasted from another app

Text copied from Notion, Google Docs, Word, a website or a "fancy font" generator can carry invisible characters (zero-width spaces, direction marks, non-breaking spaces). They don't show on screen but can be refused by the validator. Retyping the text by hand removes them.

"Fancy" Unicode fonts and unusual symbols

Bold or italic letters generated with Unicode (𝗹𝗢𝗸𝗲 π˜π—΅π—Άπ˜€), decorative symbols or rarely used emoji are a frequent source of trouble. Replace them with plain text and standard emoji.

Links and domains

Try removing any URL from your bio. If the save works without it, move the link to the dedicated website field of your profile. See our guide on the Twitter profile website field.

Length and line breaks

Your bio is limited to 160 characters. Some emoji and symbols count as more than one character, so a bio that looks short can still be over the limit. Removing extra line breaks also helps.

Still blocked?

Try saving from another device (web vs. mobile app), log out and back in, then contact X support through the Help Center if the error persists with a plain-text bio.

Once it saves, make that bio count: read how to create the best Twitter profile bio.

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