Word & Character Counter
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About Word Counter
Counts words, characters, sentences and paragraphs as you type, with and without spaces. Built for the moment you have a hard limit to hit — an essay, a meta description, a bio field, a submission form.
What counts as a word
A word is a run of characters separated by whitespace, which is the same rule Word and Google Docs use. That means a hyphenated compound counts as one, a number counts as one, and 'e-mail' counts as one while 'e mail' counts as two. Character count with spaces is what social platforms and form fields usually enforce; character count without spaces is what academic limits sometimes specify.
Why does my count differ from Word?
Usually because of what each tool treats as a separator. Footnotes, headers, captions and text boxes are included or excluded differently across programs. Numbers and standalone symbols are also handled inconsistently. For an assignment with a strict limit, count in the program your marker will use.
How long does my text take to read?
At an average adult reading speed of about 200–250 words per minute, 500 words is roughly two minutes. Read aloud it is slower — around 130–150 words per minute — which is why a five-minute talk is closer to 700 words than to 1,200.