How to count words
- Type directly in the box, or paste text you already have from a document, email or web page.
- Six counts update with every keystroke: words, characters, characters without spaces, sentences, paragraphs and estimated reading time.
- Edit until you hit your target. Use Copy text to put the finished text back on your clipboard, or Clear to start over.
Exactly what gets counted
- Words — any run of characters without whitespace. The text is split wherever there is a space, tab or line break, so
well-known,and/oranddon'tare each one word, and a standalone dash surrounded by spaces counts as a word of its own. - Characters — the total length of the text including spaces and line breaks. Some symbols, such as many emoji, are stored as two units internally and therefore count as 2.
- No spaces — the same count with every space, tab and line break removed.
- Sentences — stretches of text that end in a full stop, question mark or exclamation mark. A run such as
?!or…typed as three dots counts once. Text after the final punctuation mark, with no ending of its own, is not counted. - Paragraphs — blocks of text separated by at least one blank line. A single line break does not start a new paragraph.
- Reading time — words divided by 200 words per minute, shown in seconds below one minute and in minutes and seconds beyond it.
Worked examples
The sentence Dr. Smith arrived at 3.30 p.m. contains 6 words but the sentence counter will show more than one, because every full stop followed by text looks like a boundary. That is a limitation of any punctuation-based counter: abbreviations, decimals and initials inflate the sentence number slightly. Treat sentence and paragraph counts as a guide, and rely on the word and character counts when a limit matters.
Reading time scales directly: 500 words shows 2m 30s, 1,000 words shows 5m 0s and 2,000 words shows 10m 0s. Speaking is slower than silent reading — a spoken presentation usually runs at roughly 130–150 words per minute — so a 5-minute talk is closer to 700 words than 1,000.
Common limits worth checking against
- Essays and assignments: teachers usually allow a margin of about 10% either side of the target. Check whether the limit includes the title, references and quotations, because this counter includes everything you paste.
- Search snippets: a meta description is commonly kept to about 150–160 characters before search engines may truncate it, so use the Characters figure, not Words.
- Social posts: X allows 280 characters on a standard post; other platforms have their own limits that are measured in characters rather than words.
- Application forms: many online forms count characters including spaces. If a form rejects your text, compare its limit with the Characters number rather than No spaces.
Why your number may differ from other programs
Microsoft Word, Google Docs, Pages and this page all use slightly different rules for hyphens, em dashes written without spaces (word—word is often counted as one word), numbers, footnotes and headers. Differences of a handful of words in a long document are normal. If an exact figure is required, such as a competition entry, count in the same program the organiser will use, and treat this tool as a close check. It also counts text in languages written without spaces, such as Chinese or Japanese, as very few words, because those scripts have no space between words; use the character counts for them.
Is it private and safe?
Yes. The counting is done by JavaScript on your own device while you type. Your text is never uploaded or saved, so it is fine for unpublished manuscripts, applications and confidential drafts. Closing the tab removes the text completely.
Related guides: How to count words and characters, word count for essays and assignments, how many words is a page and words to reading time.
Frequently asked questions
How is a word counted?
Any group of characters separated by spaces, tabs or line breaks counts as one word. That means hyphenated terms such as well-known and contractions such as don't count as a single word, while a dash with spaces on both sides counts as a word of its own.
Does it work for essays with a word limit?
Yes. The word count updates as you type, so you can aim for a target such as 500 or 1,000 words. Remember that it counts everything in the box, so remove the title, headings or bibliography first if your assignment excludes them.
Why is my count different from Microsoft Word or Google Docs?
Each program has its own rules for hyphens, dashes without spaces, numbers and special characters. A small gap, typically a few words in a long text, is normal. For a submission with a strict limit, confirm the figure in the program the organiser will use.
How is reading time calculated?
Reading time divides the word count by 200 words per minute, a typical silent reading speed for adults. For example, 1,000 words shows 5 minutes. Technical or difficult material is read more slowly, and spoken delivery is usually slower than 200 words per minute.
How are sentences counted?
A sentence is a stretch of text ending in a full stop, question mark or exclamation mark. Abbreviations like Dr. or initials and decimal points can add extra sentence breaks, and text with no ending punctuation at the end is not counted, so treat the sentence figure as an estimate.
What is the difference between Characters and No spaces?
Characters counts every character including spaces and line breaks, which is what most online forms and social networks measure. No spaces removes all whitespace first, which some translation and publishing jobs use for pricing or limits.
Does it count Chinese, Japanese or Korean text correctly?
Korean uses spaces between word groups, so the word count is reasonable. Chinese and Japanese are written without spaces between words, so a long passage may count as only a few words. For those languages use the character counts instead.
Is my text stored or sent anywhere?
Never. Counting happens in your browser on your own device, and the text disappears when you close the tab.