Word Counter
Count words, characters, sentences and paragraphs as you type, and see how long your text takes to read or say out loud. Your text stays in your browser.
- Words
- 0
- Characters
- 0
- Characters (no spaces)
- 0
- Sentences
- 0
- Paragraphs
- 0
- Reading time
- 0 sec
- 225 words/min
- Speaking time
- 0 sec
- 140 words/min
How to use the word counter
Type in the box or paste text from any document, email or web page.
The counts update instantly as you write, so you can trim or extend your text until it fits the limit you need.
Use Copy text to take the edited text back to your document, or Clear to start again.
When a word count matters
Essays and assignments
Check that a school or university assignment stays within the required minimum and maximum number of words.
Meta descriptions and ads
Search snippets and ad copy are limited by characters. The count with spaces is the one most platforms use.
Speeches and videos
The speaking time estimate helps you plan a presentation, a podcast intro or a voice-over script before you record it.
Social media posts
Many platforms limit posts by characters. Emoji and accented letters are counted as single characters, like people see them.
How words, sentences and paragraphs are counted
Words are detected with the Unicode word-boundary rules built into your browser, the same rules used by text editors. Contractions such as "don't" and hyphenated words such as "well-known" count as one word, numbers count as words, and punctuation on its own does not. Languages written without spaces, such as Chinese or Japanese, are split into words using the browser's dictionary for that language.
Characters are counted as you see them: an emoji with a skin tone or a letter with an accent counts as one character. The count without spaces excludes spaces, tabs and line breaks. Sentences end with punctuation such as a period, question mark or exclamation mark, and each line or block of text separated by a line break counts as a paragraph.
Reading time assumes an average silent reading speed of 225 words per minute and speaking time assumes 140 words per minute. Real speeds vary with the reader and the difficulty of the text, so treat both as estimates.
Frequently asked questions
Is my text saved or sent anywhere?
No. The counting happens entirely in your browser. Your text is not uploaded, stored or logged, and it disappears when you close or reload the page.
Why is my word count different from my word processor?
Word processors use slightly different rules for things like hyphenated words, URLs, numbers with separators or standalone symbols. Differences are usually a few words in a long document.
Does it work with languages other than English?
Yes. It follows Unicode text rules, so it works with accented languages such as Spanish or French and with non-Latin scripts such as Greek, Arabic, Chinese or Japanese.
Which character count should I use for limits?
Most platforms, including search snippets and social networks, count characters with spaces. Some academic or translation briefs specify characters without spaces, so check the requirement you were given.
Is there a maximum length?
There is no fixed limit. Very long texts of hundreds of thousands of words still work; on slower devices the counts may take a moment to update.