Word and character counter
Paste your text and read the count. Words, characters, sentences, reading time and pages, all worked out in this tab. Signed-in text work saves to your private account.
Signed in, typed text and settings save automatically to your private account. Text opened from files stays in this browser’s local storage. Files stay in your browser. Account saving
Processing happens in your browser. Signed in, your text and settings save automatically to your private account. Completed activity records only counts and dates.
- Type or pasteStraight into the box. The count updates as you type.
- Watch eight figures moveWords, characters, sentences, paragraphs, time and pages, live.
- Hold it under a limitPick a preset and the bar shows what is left, or how far over.
How to count your words
Type or paste your text
Drop it straight into the box. The count updates in your browser as you type. Signed-in text drafts save privately.
Read the counts
Words, characters, characters without spaces, sentences, paragraphs, reading time, speaking time and pages update on every keystroke.
Check it against a limit
Pick a limit such as an X post or a meta description and the bar shows how much room is left, or how far over you are.
What each figure actually counts
Two counters disagreeing is almost always a rule difference rather than a bug. Here are the rules this one uses, so you can tell which of them is the odd one out.
- Words are runs of characters separated by whitespace. The same rule Word and Google Docs use. A hyphenated compound is one word, an ampersand on its own is one word, and a number is one word.
- Characters counts everything, spaces and line breaks included. It counts what you see, so a flag or a family emoji is one character. Word counts those as two or more, which is the usual reason an emoji-heavy caption disagrees.
- No spaces strips every space, tab and newline first. Some university word limits and most database columns are written against this number.
- Sentences counts full stops, question marks, exclamation marks and ellipses. Abbreviations inflate it. It is an estimate and nothing more.
- Paragraphs counts non-empty lines, because a press of Enter makes a paragraph whether or not you left a blank line after it.
Character limits worth knowing
Pick one from the Limit menu and the bar fills as you write. These are the numbers the platforms actually enforce, not the ones they recommend.
| Where | Limit | What happens past it |
|---|---|---|
| SEO page title | 60 characters | Google truncates in the results page. Nothing breaks. |
| Meta description | 160 characters | Truncated, or replaced with text from the page. |
| SMS | 160 characters | Split into several messages, each billed separately. |
| X post | 280 characters | Refused unless you pay for the longer limit. |
| Instagram caption | 2,200 characters | Refused. |
| LinkedIn post | 3,000 characters | Refused. |
One caveat on the X figure. X weights characters rather than counting them, so most Latin letters cost 1 while CJK characters cost 2, and a link always costs 23 whatever its length. For English text the plain count is right; for anything else, treat 280 as a ceiling you will hit early.
Why the count in your document is different
Word processors count more than the words you can see. Word includes footnotes and endnotes only if you ask it to, counts text boxes but not headers and footers, and treats a field code as whatever it currently displays. Google Docs excludes headers, footers and footnotes outright.
So a document that reports 2,014 words in Word can report 1,960 in Docs and 1,948 here, all three correctly. If a hard limit is at stake, count in the tool the person marking it will use. The word count guide lists what each app includes and excludes.
Counting a word limit you have to hit
An essay brief, a job application and a bid response all tend to give a range rather than a ceiling, and going under is usually marked as harshly as going over. Set the limit here to the number you are aiming at, watch the bar, and edit toward it rather than counting at the end.
Typed or pasted drafts save privately when signed in. Signed-out drafts and text opened from files stay in this browser’s local storage. Keep an independent copy of important work.
Frequently asked questions
Does this word counter match Microsoft Word and Google Docs?
For ordinary prose, yes. All three split on runs of whitespace, so anything between two spaces counts as one word. The three known places they part company are hyphenated compounds, which every one of them counts as a single word, numbers with spaces in them, and text with no spaces at all. Paste the same paragraph into two of them and you should see the same figure.
Does it count characters with or without spaces?
Both, side by side, because the two limits that matter use different rules. An SEO title is measured with spaces, and so is an X post. A database field is usually measured the same way. The "No spaces" figure drops every space, tab and line break, which is the count some university word limits are written against.
Is my text sent anywhere?
The tool processes text in your browser. Signed in, your text drafts and settings save automatically to your private account. Signed out, they stay on this device. Your profile is private. Text opened from files and its later edits stay in this browser’s local storage. They do not sync to your account. Completed activity stores numbers only.
How is reading time calculated?
Words divided by 238 a minute. That figure is the average silent reading speed for adult non-fiction, from a 2019 review of 190 separate studies. The 200 and 250 you see on other counters are round numbers rather than measurements. Speaking time uses 130 a minute, which is the pace of a prepared talk rather than a conversation.
How many pages is my word count?
The Pages figure assumes 500 words on a page: 12pt, single spaced, one-inch margins. Double spacing roughly halves it, so 1,000 words is two pages single spaced and four double spaced. Font choice moves the number more than people expect, and the guide has the full table.
Why does the sentence count look wrong?
Because it counts full stops, and abbreviations have full stops in them. "Dr. Smith arrived at 4 p.m." reads as three sentences to any counter that is not carrying a dictionary for your language. Treat the figure as an estimate of length, not as a fact about grammar. Words and characters are exact; sentences are not.
Does it work with Chinese, Japanese or Korean text?
Characters yes, words no. Those languages are written without spaces between words, so a whitespace split returns 1 for an entire paragraph. The character counts are correct and are the ones normally used for those languages anyway. An emoji counts as one character here, because that is what you see, though Word counts some of them as two.
Can I use it offline?
Yes, once the page has loaded. Counting needs no connection, so it works on a plane or a dead connection. Google Analytics and signed-in saving may make requests when online. Offline account writes wait for reconnection. After an online visit, the page can reopen offline if its cache is still available.
Something missing? Request a feature