How to count words
- Type in the box or paste your text with Ctrl+V. You can also drop a .txt file.
- Words, characters and characters without spaces update as you type.
- Open More details for sentences, paragraphs, bytes and reading time, or turn on a Limit.
How it counts
Words are found with the browser’s built-in language rules (Intl.Segmenter), not just by splitting on spaces. That matters for contractions, numbers and languages written without spaces. Characters are counted as you see them, so an emoji like 👍🏽 counts as one, even though it is made of two code points.
Reading time assumes 230 words per minute, a typical pace for adult silent reading of non-fiction.
What we checked
We tested how sample sentences are counted. “Don’t stop—it’s 5 o’clock.” gives 5 words (Don’t, stop, it’s, 5, o’clock) and 26 characters, 23 without spaces. A simple split on spaces would give 4, because “stop—it’s” has no space around the dash.
The same sentence takes 28 bytes in UTF-8 because the curly apostrophes and the dash need three bytes each. That number matters when a database or SMS gateway limits bytes rather than characters.
When to use it
Checking an essay, cover letter or application answer against a word limit. Writing a tweet, an ad headline or a meta description within a character limit (meta descriptions are commonly kept under about 155 characters). Estimating how long a speech or article takes to read.
Comparing two drafts? Paste them into Text & Code Diff Checker to see exactly what changed.
Good to know
- Your text stays in this browser tab: it is kept in session storage so a reload doesn’t lose it, and it disappears when you close the tab.
- Sentence counting looks for . ! ? and their full-width forms, so abbreviations like “e.g.” can add an extra sentence.
- Hyphenated words such as “well-known” count as two words, the same way most word processors count them.
Frequently asked questions
Is my text sent anywhere?
No. Counting happens in your browser. Nothing is uploaded or stored on a server.
Why does my word processor show a different number?
Each program has its own rules for dashes, numbers and URLs. Differences are usually one or two words in a page. If a submission system checks the count, its rule is the one that counts.
Does it count characters with or without spaces?
Both. Characters includes spaces and line breaks; Without spaces removes all whitespace.
How is reading time calculated?
Words divided by 230 per minute, rounded. The Korean and Japanese versions of this page use 500 characters per minute instead.