Word Counter
Count words and characters in your text instantly.
How to use this tool
- Enter text in the fields above.
- Results update instantly as you type — or click Calculate.
- Read your words and the full breakdown beneath it.
Count words and characters in your text instantly.
How it works
The Word Counter tool scans your pasted text and counts every word separated by whitespace, giving you an instant total. It also reports the character count and paragraph count so you get a complete picture of your text length in one step.
Word count is determined by splitting on spaces, tabs, and newlines, which matches the standard used by most word processors. Hyphenated compounds (e.g., "well-known") are counted as one word, just as Microsoft Word and Google Docs count them.
Use this tool when you need to hit a word limit for an essay, article, job application, or social-media post. It works on any language that uses spaces between words, including French, Spanish, German, and Portuguese.
Paste your draft, check the count, then trim or expand as needed. There is no character limit on the input, so you can paste an entire document at once.
Worked example
Check a college application essay against a 650-word limit
- Copy your entire essay from your word processor.
- Paste it into the Text field.
- Read the word count shown instantly below the input.
- If the count exceeds 650, return to your draft and cut accordingly.
You see '643 words' — within the limit, no editing needed.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Pasting HTML or markdown source instead of plain text inflates the word count with tag names and symbols.
- Forgetting that numbered lists add extra tokens (the numbers themselves count as words).
- Assuming hyphenated words count as two words — most counters, including this one, treat them as one.
Key terms
- Word
- A sequence of non-whitespace characters surrounded by spaces or line breaks. Punctuation attached to a word (e.g., trailing comma) is included in that word token.
- Whitespace
- Spaces, tabs, and newline characters that separate words in plain text.
Frequently asked questions
- Does it count words in multiple languages?
- Yes, for any language that separates words with spaces. Languages like Chinese or Japanese that do not use spaces between words will return a lower count than expected.
- Does pasting formatted text affect the count?
- Only plain text is counted. HTML tags or rich-text markup pasted accidentally will be counted as words, so paste plain text for accurate results.
- Is my text saved anywhere?
- No. The tool runs entirely in your browser; nothing is sent to a server.