Free online word counter
Type or paste any text and this word counter instantly shows the number of words, characters and sentences, plus how long it takes to read.
Last updated
Your text stays in your browser. Nothing you paste is uploaded or stored.
How to use the word counter
- Type into the box, or paste text from any document, email or web page.
- Watch the counts update as you type: words, characters, sentences and reading time.
- Edit your text until it fits the word or character limit you are working to.
- Press Clear to empty the box and start again.
How the word counter works
The tool reads your text the moment it changes and counts it directly in your browser. Nothing is sent to a server, so you can safely check private drafts, cover letters or client work.
A word is any run of letters or numbers. Hyphenated words such as well-known and contractions such as don't count as one word, which matches how most teachers and editors count. Characters include letters, numbers, spaces and punctuation, and each emoji counts as a single character. A new sentence is detected after a full stop, question mark or exclamation mark.
Formula
Reading time in minutes = words ÷ 230. A pace of 230 words per minute is a common estimate of how fast an adult reads ordinary prose silently on a screen.
Example
A 690-word blog post divided by 230 gives exactly 3 minutes of reading time. A 1,500-word essay takes about 6.5 minutes, which the tool shows as 6 min 31 sec.
The sentence "Well-known writers don't waste words." has 5 words, 37 characters and 1 sentence.
Tips and common mistakes
Check which unit the limit uses
Some forms limit words and others limit characters. A 150-character bio is far shorter than a 150-word one, so check which the form counts before you trim.
Clean up text copied from PDFs
Text copied out of a PDF can carry broken line breaks or words split with a hyphen across lines. Fix those first, because a split word is counted as two.
Allow more time for speeches
People speak more slowly than they read. For a talk or video script, plan on roughly half the reading speed, so double the reading time shown.
Format data before counting it
If the text came from an API response or a settings file, tidy it with the JSON formatter first so you can see which fields hold real sentences.
Send scanned pages as one file
Submitting a printed or handwritten piece as photos? Once it fits the limit, convert the JPG photos to a PDF so you can send a single file.
Frequently asked questions
Is my text saved or uploaded?
No. The word counter runs in your browser. Your text is never sent to a server or stored, and it is gone when you close the page.
How are numbers and symbols counted?
Numbers such as 2026 count as words. A symbol on its own, like & or a dash between spaces, counts as a character but not as a word.
Does it work for other languages?
Yes, for languages that put spaces between words, including accented Latin scripts, Cyrillic and Greek. Languages written without spaces, such as Chinese or Japanese, are not counted accurately.
Why does my word processor show a different number?
Each program has its own rules for hyphens, dashes, web addresses and numbers, so long documents can differ by a few words. The gap is rarely big enough to matter for a limit.
How is reading time worked out?
We divide the word count by 230 words per minute, a common estimate of adult silent reading speed, and round to the nearest second.