Word Counter

How to use this counter

1. 1 Type or paste your text; every count updates live.
2. 2 Characters are counted with and without spaces; social networks and forms usually limit the count including spaces.
3. 3 Reading time assumes about 200 words per minute, a common average for adult readers.
4. 4 Nothing you type leaves your device, so pasting a confidential draft is safe.

Frequently asked questions

What counts as a word?

Any run of characters between spaces or line breaks. Hyphenated forms like 'well-known' count as one word, which matches how most word processors count.

Do emoji and accented letters count as one character?

Yes. Counting is Unicode-aware, so é or an emoji is one character even though it may occupy several bytes.

What are common length limits?

An X/Twitter post allows 280 characters, an SMS 160, a meta description around 155 to 160, and typical college essays are measured in words, not characters.

How accurate is the sentence count?

Sentences are split on . ! and ? followed by a space. Abbreviations like 'e.g.' can add a sentence to the count, so treat it as a close estimate.