South Carolina license plate format checker.

South Carolina's SCDMV publishes length and character rules for personalized plates. This checker applies exactly those rules to what you type and says which part is off. It does not check availability and it does not claim any combination will be approved.

What South Carolina publishes

Under "Helpful Tips" the SCDMV personalized plates page says: "There's a limit of eight characters for cars and trucks. There's a limit of six characters for motorcycles and specialty personalized plates. You can include numbers and letters. If you include a blank space, it's a character. The only symbol that may be used is the '&'. All combinations must be approved by the SCDMV."

The page says to complete the Application for Personalized License Plate (SCDMV Form MV-96), pay $30 plus the registration fee and mail it to the SCDMV Personalized Plates unit in Blythewood.

How the checker reads what you type

It capitals the entry and counts every letter, digit, space and ampersand toward the limit. A space is counted as a character, as SCDMV states. Any other symbol is flagged because SCDMV lists "&" as the only one allowed.

What this page does not cover

SCDMV says all combinations must be approved, so fitting the rules does not mean a combination is available or accepted. The page quoted here does not give the standard-issue letter and number pattern, so this page does not state one.

Check availability and apply

Use the agency page itself: SCDMV, Personalized Plates. For other states' rules on the same topic, see the related tools below, and driver license validity by state for licenses rather than plates.

Sources

Retrieved 2026-11-02. Each source was opened and read against the claim next to it.

• SCDMV, Personalized Plates: eight and six character limits, space counts as a character, ampersand only symbol, approval, Form MV-96 and $30 fee.