Free Word and Character Counter

Count words, characters, sentences and paragraphs as you type or paste, with reading time, top phrases and length checks for titles, X posts and SMS.

Your text is counted in your browser and never sent to our servers.

Opens a .txt, .md or .html file from your device, up to 10 MB. It is read in your browser and is not uploaded.

Words
0
Characters
0
Characters without spaces
0
Sentences
0
Paragraphs
0
Lines
0
Unique words
0
Average word length
0 letters
Average sentence length
0 words
Longest word
0
Reading time, at 238 words per minute
0 sec
Speaking time, at 150 words per minute
0 sec

Length checks

Rules of thumb for places where text has a length limit. Each service sets and changes its own limits, so check the one you publish on.

Title tag 0 of 60
Within the limit. 60 left.
About 60 characters. Search engines cut titles by width in pixels, not by character count, so the real cut varies.
Meta description 0 of 160
Within the limit. 160 left.
About 155 to 160 characters. Search engines may show a longer or shorter snippet, or write their own.
X post 0 of 280
Within the limit. 280 left.
280 characters. X can count links and some characters, such as emoji, differently; this meter counts plain characters.
SMS 0 of 160
Fits in one message. 160 left.
One message holds 160 characters in the GSM-7 alphabet, or 70 if any other character is used, such as an emoji or a curly quote. Longer texts are sent in parts of 153 or 67.
Instagram caption 0 of 2,200
Within the limit. 2,200 left.
2,200 characters.
LinkedIn post 0 of 3,000
Within the limit. 3,000 left.
3,000 characters.
YouTube title 0 of 100
Within the limit. 100 left.
100 characters.

Top phrases

The words and phrases you repeat most. For a full analysis of a page or a text, use the Keyword Density Checker.

One word

Phrase Count % of words
Nothing repeats yet. A phrase is listed once it appears at least twice.

Two words

Phrase Count % of words
Nothing repeats yet. A phrase is listed once it appears at least twice.

Three words

Phrase Count % of words
Nothing repeats yet. A phrase is listed once it appears at least twice.

Phrases stay inside one sentence. The common-word list is English.

How we count

Counting rules differ from program to program, so a number here can differ from the one in your word processor. These are the rules this page uses.

  • Words: a run of letters or digits in any alphabet. An apostrophe or a plain hyphen between two letters or digits stays inside the word, so it's and well-known are one word each. Any other mark ends a word: a dot, comma, slash, ampersand, @ sign or non-breaking hyphen. So 3.14, 1,000 and R&D count as two words each, 1,250.50 as three, and a web address as several.
  • Chinese and Japanese are written without spaces, so every two characters count as one word. The SEO audit on this site counts Chinese and Japanese the same way when it measures the content of a page.
  • Thai, Lao, Khmer and Burmese are also written without spaces. This browser cannot split them, so each unbroken run counts as one word.
  • Characters: what you see as one character. An emoji, a flag or a letter with an accent counts once. A line break counts as one character. The count without spaces leaves out every space, tab and line break.
  • Sentences: a sentence ends at a full stop, an exclamation mark or a question mark (or their full-width forms) when a space or the end of the line follows. Titles such as Mr. and Dr., initials, list numbers, decimals and web addresses do not end one, and a line break always does. It is an estimate, because no rule can read every abbreviation.
  • Paragraphs and lines: every line that has text is one paragraph, the way a press of Enter works in a word processor. Lines counts every line, empty ones included.
  • Reading time uses 238 words per minute and speaking time uses 150. These are averages for adults, and your own pace will differ.
  • Top phrases: words are compared in lower case, a phrase never runs across the end of a sentence, and it is listed only if it appears at least twice. Hiding common words removes single stop words and any phrase that starts or ends with one.
  • Files: a .txt file is read as it is. For .md and .html files the markup is removed first, so only the text is counted. The file is read in your browser and never uploaded.

Microsoft Word and Google Docs count some things differently, such as numbers with punctuation, web addresses and dashes without spaces, so check the limit in the program that will enforce it.

What Is a Word Counter?

Quick answer: A word counter reports the word count, sentence count, paragraph count and character count of a text, plus its reading and speaking time. Type or paste, and the numbers update as you go, so count your own text.

The usual jobs are limit checks: an essay word limit, a title tag, a text message. This free word counter is also a character counter and paragraph counter. It does not check grammar, readability or plagiarism.

How to Count Words Online With This Tool

  1. Type or paste into the box labeled "Type or paste your text", or press "Paste" or "Open a file".
  2. Read the twelve numbers as they update; there is no Count button.
  3. Select part of the text to count only that part; the readout shows "Selected text. Words: N. Characters: N."
  4. Press "Copy stats" or "Download stats" (saves word-counter-stats.txt) to keep the numbers. To clear text, press "Clear".

Two traps: "Copy stats" gives you the numbers and top phrases, never your text. To undo "Clear", press Ctrl+Z (Cmd+Z on a Mac) in the box; it worked in our test. Then try it with your own text.

What the Word Count, Character Count and Other Numbers Mean

"The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog." has 9 words, 44 characters (36 without spaces) and 8 unique words.

NumberWhat it counts
WordsStretches of letters and digits
CharactersEverything typed; emoji count once
Characters without spacesSkips spaces, tabs, line breaks
SentencesAn estimate, explained below
ParagraphsEvery line with text; hard wrapped files inflate it
LinesEvery line, empty ones too
Unique wordsDifferent words, ignoring case
Average word lengthLetters per word
Average sentence lengthWords per sentence
Longest wordThe word itself, with its letter count
Reading time238 words per minute
Speaking time150 words per minute

How the Word Counter Decides What Counts as a Word

Every rule is in the How we count panel; here is where counters disagree.

TextThis counterA desktop word processor we tested
3.14, 1,000, R&D or snake_case2 each1 each
Web address such as https://example.com/blog/post-151
Two words with a lone hyphen between spaces23
Ten Chinese characters510

Plain English prose agrees: our 281 word sample counted 281 here and in the word processor we tested.

Sentence boundary disambiguation is hard, so the sentence counter gives an estimate. A line break always ends a sentence and titles such as Dr. do not, so "Dr. Smith arrived at 5 p.m. on Monday. He left." counts as 2.

Character Counter and Length Limits for Titles, X Posts and SMS

These are rules of thumb; check where you publish. Most meters say "Close to the limit" from 90 percent.

PlaceLimitGood to know
Title tag60 charactershow to write a meta title
Meta description160 charactersThe meta description guide
X post280 charactersWe count an emoji as 2
SMS160 characters in GSM-7, 70 otherwiseParts of 153 or 67

Google's documentation on title links says a title element (HTML title tag) has no length limit and the title link is typically shortened to fit the device width. We count characters, not pixels.

GSM-7, the basic SMS alphabet, fits 160 characters. One curly apostrophe or emoji switches the whole message to UCS-2, which fits 70, and the meter names the culprit; a straight apostrophe stays GSM-7. See how SMS encodings change the limit.

Reading Time Calculator and Speaking Time

Reading time is the word count divided by 238 words per minute. That is the average reading speed for English non-fiction read silently, from a 2019 meta-analysis of 190 reading studies by Marc Brysbaert (Ghent University), with 18,573 participants. Speaking time divides by 150, our own assumed pace.

At 500 words, reading takes 2 min 6 sec and speaking 3 min 20 sec; at 1,000 words, 4 min 12 sec and 6 min 40 sec.

Check your own pace: both are averages, and dense text reads slower. If you read aloud at under 150 words per minute, trim the script to fit.

How to Read the Top Phrases Table

Top phrases lists one, two and three word phrases that appear at least twice, ten per table. "Hide common words", on by default, drops stop words and phrases that start or end with one; the list is English only.

The "% of words" column is the phrase count over all words: "useful content" five times in a 45 word text reads 11.1%. No target or pass mark; spot words you lean on.

Count Words in a File or a Very Long Text

The box holds 2,000,000 characters (an emoji uses 2 of them). "Open a file" takes .txt, .text, .md, .markdown, .html and .htm files up to 10 MB, read in your browser, not uploaded.

Markup is stripped, but text hidden with CSS still counts.

Text in a picture goes through the Image to Text Converter first (that tool uploads the picture). For a live page, the SEO score checker report prints the words of visible text; this tool takes no address.

In our tests 2,000,000 characters of English counted in one to two seconds, but 300,000 unspaced Thai characters took 12 to 24 seconds, because the browser lays out the box slowly. Paste long Thai or Hindi text in parts.

Does Word Count Matter for SEO?

Google has no preferred word count. Article length and blog post length are planning numbers, not a ranking factor on their own, so match the depth of what already answers the search. A word and character counter says how long a text is, not whether it is good; the content length guide covers what our report checks.

Your Text Stays in Your Browser

This online word counter runs in your browser, so your text is not sent to our servers. The page does not save it, though a browser may restore it after a reload, and spell check sits outside the page.

The page loads ads and analytics, and your first keystroke, paste or file open records one usage event with the tool name and how you started, never your text.

Related Free Text and SEO Tools

Three tools for the next step:

Frequently Asked Questions

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) is a list of common questions and answers provided to quickly address common concerns or inquiries.

How does this word counter count words?

A word is a stretch of letters or digits. An apostrophe or plain hyphen between two of them joins, so it's and well-known count once. Any other mark ends a word, so 3.14 is two. Chinese and Japanese count every two characters as one.

What is the difference between characters and characters without spaces?

Characters counts everything you typed. Characters without spaces drops spaces, tabs and line breaks. X posts and SMS limits count spaces. 'The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.' has 44 characters but 36 without spaces, because eight spaces separate nine words.

Does a word counter count numbers, hyphenated words and web addresses?

Yes, numbers count, but punctuation splits them: 3.14 and 1,000 are two words each. A hyphen between letters keeps a word whole, so well-known is one. Web and e-mail addresses split at their punctuation: https://example.com/blog/post-1 gives five words and name@example.com three.

Why does my word processor show a different word count?

Programs differ on punctuation and scripts. A word processor we tested counted 3.14 and a web address as one word each, and ten Chinese characters as ten, yet matched this counter on our 281 word English sample. Check the limit where it is enforced.

How is reading time calculated, and how many words is a five minute speech?

Reading time divides the word count by the average silent reading speed for English non-fiction, 238 words per minute, so a five minute read is about 1,190 words. Speaking time uses our assumed 150, so a five minute speech is about 750 words.

Is my text uploaded or stored?

No. Counting runs in your browser, so your text, or a file you open, is not sent to our servers. The page does not save it, though a browser may restore it after a reload, and spell check is outside our control.

How many characters is 500 words?

About 2,800 characters with spaces, or 2,300 without, in a text like our 281 word English sample. That sample ran to 1,568 characters, about 5.6 per word, and 1,285 without spaces. Other text will differ, so paste yours for a real count.

Can I count words in Chinese, Japanese or Thai?

Yes, as an estimate. Chinese and Japanese have no spaces, so every two characters count as one word. Thai, Lao, Khmer and Burmese use the browser's Intl.Segmenter when it has one, else one word per unbroken run. Other Unicode scripts counted normally.

How much text can I count, and can I open a file?

The box holds 2,000,000 characters and says when it is full. 'Open a file' takes a .txt file, markdown file or HTML file up to 10 MB, read in your browser as UTF-8, UTF-16 or Windows-1252. No sign-up and no daily limit.
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