Word Counter
Count words, characters, sentences and reading time as you type.
How to use the Word Counter
- Type or paste your text in the box.
- The counts update live — no button needed.
About the Word Counter
What counts as a word is a real question, and the answer is why two word counters rarely agree. This tool splits your text on whitespace: every unbroken run of non-space characters is one word. So “state-of-the-art” counts as one word, not four, and “one—two” with an em dash and no spaces around it also counts as one. Microsoft Word and Google Docs apply their own splitting rules, which is exactly why their totals drift from an online counter’s on the same text. Neither is wrong — they are answering slightly different questions.
The other figures follow rules worth knowing. Sentences are found by looking for runs of text ending in a full stop, exclamation mark or question mark, so abbreviations like “Dr.” inflate the count, and text with no closing punctuation still counts as one sentence. Paragraphs are blocks separated by a blank line. Reading time assumes 200 words per minute, rounded up to a minimum of one minute.
Length limits are the usual reason to count: essay and application word limits, SEO copy targets, and translation or copywriting billed per word. If your text came out of a PDF with ragged spacing, tidy it with the extra spaces remover first — spacing cannot change the word count here, but it makes the text easier to work with. Everything runs in your browser, so nothing you paste is uploaded. For a breakdown of which words you use most, see the word frequency counter.
Frequently asked questions
Why is my word count different from Microsoft Word?
Because the rule for splitting text into words differs. This tool splits on whitespace, so anything hyphenated or joined by a dash counts as one word. Word applies its own rules and can count some of those separately. On ordinary prose the two agree closely; on text full of hyphens and dashes they will not.
Is "state-of-the-art" one word or four?
One. There is no whitespace in it, so it is a single word here. If a submission has a strict limit, check which rule the receiving system uses — a hyphen-heavy text can be counted quite differently.
How is reading time calculated?
Word count divided by 200 words per minute, rounded to the nearest minute with a floor of one minute. It is a rough guide: actual reading speed varies enormously with the difficulty of the material.
How does it count sentences?
It counts runs of text that end in a full stop, exclamation mark or question mark. Abbreviations such as "Dr." or "e.g." are counted as sentence endings, so they inflate the number. Text with no ending punctuation at all still counts as one sentence.
Is my text uploaded anywhere?
No. The counting happens entirely in your browser, so the text never leaves your device. You can disconnect from the internet and the tool still works.