Word Counter

Count words, characters, sentences, and paragraphs as you type.

Words

Characters

Chars (no spaces)

Sentences

Paragraphs

0 sec

Reading time

How to use the word counter

Type or paste text into the box and the counts update instantly: words, characters (with and without spaces), sentences, paragraphs and estimated reading time. Use "Clear text" to start over. Your text stays in your browser and isn't sent anywhere.

How each count works

Words: text is split wherever there is whitespace. Hyphenated words like "well-known" count as one, and a dash with spaces on both sides counts as a word of its own, so totals can differ by a few from Word or Google Docs.
Characters: includes spaces, punctuation and line breaks. The "no spaces" figure removes all whitespace. Emoji may count as two characters.
Sentences: counted by sentence-ending punctuation (. ! ?). Abbreviations such as "Dr." or "e.g." can add extra sentences.
Paragraphs: counted by line breaks, ignoring blank lines.
Reading time: words ÷ 200 words per minute, a fairly slow silent-reading pace. For example, 500 words is 2.5 minutes, and 1,200 words is 6 minutes. Speaking aloud is slower, often around 130 words per minute, so a 1,000-word talk runs roughly 7 to 8 minutes.

Common length targets

Use	Typical limit
Post on X (standard account)	280 characters
Instagram caption	2,200 characters
Single SMS text (plain text)	160 characters
Search result title	about 50 to 60 characters
Meta description	about 155 to 160 characters
Common App personal essay	650 words maximum

Limits change and vary by platform, so check the current rules for anything important. Search results, for example, truncate by pixel width rather than a fixed character count.

Useful for

Essays and assignments with word limits, cover letters and applications, social captions, product descriptions, meta descriptions, speeches and presentations, and any writing where you're aiming for a specific length.

Frequently asked questions

Why does my word count differ from another program's?

Programs handle hyphens, dashes, numbers and symbols differently. If a strict count matters, such as for a submission, check it in the tool the recipient will use.

Is there a limit to how much text I can paste?

There is no fixed limit here, but very long documents may slow your browser.

Can it count words in a specific part of the text?

Paste only that section. To see how far along you are toward a limit as a percentage, try the percentage calculator.