Text & developer
Word Counter and Character Counter
Type or paste your text to see live counts of words, characters (with and without spaces), sentences, paragraphs and lines. The tool also estimates reading and speaking time and lists the words you use most, ignoring common filler words.
Loading tool…
- Words
- 0
- Characters
- 0
- Without spaces
- 0
- Sentences
- 0
- Paragraphs
- 0
- Lines
- 0
- Reading time
- 0 sec
- Speaking time
- 0 sec
- Longest word
- –
- Average word length
- 0
Most used words
Common words such as “the” and “and” are left out.
| Word | Times | Share of text |
|---|---|---|
| Nothing yet. | ||
How to use the Word Counter
- Type or paste your text into the box. Counts update as you type.
- Read the totals: words, characters with and without spaces, sentences, paragraphs and lines.
- Check the reading and speaking time, and the list of most used words.
- Use “Clear” to start again. Nothing is saved or sent anywhere.
Tips for better results
- Limits are usually counted one of two ways. Essay and form limits normally use words. Social posts and meta descriptions use characters, so check which one your limit means.
- A meta description of about 120 to 155 characters is a good target for search results, and a page title of about 60 characters or fewer.
- The top words list helps you spot overused words. A word that appears in 5 percent or more of a short text is worth a second look.
Limitations you should know about
- A word is any run of characters between spaces that contains a letter or digit. This matches how most word processors count, but a hyphenated term such as “well-known” is one word, and Chinese, Japanese and Thai text (which has no spaces between words) is not split into words.
- Characters are counted as a person sees them, so an accented letter or an emoji counts as one. Some platforms count differently, for example X (Twitter) gives some characters extra weight.
- Sentence counts are an estimate based on full stops, question marks and exclamation marks. Abbreviations such as “Dr.” can make the count one higher.
- Reading time assumes about 200 words per minute and speaking time about 130. People vary a lot.
Frequently asked questions
How are words counted?
Words are groups of characters separated by spaces or line breaks, as long as they contain at least one letter or digit. A dash on its own does not count.
Does the word counter store my text?
No. The counting runs in your browser. Your text is not uploaded, saved or logged.
Why does my word count differ from Microsoft Word or Google Docs?
Small differences come from how each program treats dashes, numbers, slashes and special characters. Check the rule your teacher or publisher uses.
How is reading time worked out?
Word count divided by 200 words per minute, rounded to the nearest second. Speaking time uses 130 words per minute.
Guides that use this tool
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