Word Counter
Count the words in your text and copy the total. Check essays, application answers and other writing with a word limit in a few clicks.
How to use Word Counter
1. Paste or type the text you want to check into the Text box. 2. Select Count to see the word total. The result updates when you select Count. 3. Edit your draft and select Count again to check the revised version. 4. Select Copy result to copy the total, or Reset to clear the text and start again.
Why use this tool?
A word limit is easier to manage when you know where you stand. Use this free word counter before submitting an essay, an application answer, a report or a short piece of writing. Count the full draft or paste one section to see how much space it uses. If the receiving form or editor has its own counter, check that total too: different tools can handle punctuation and hyphenated words differently.
How the calculation works
The counter looks for groups of letters or numbers in your text. Spaces, line breaks and most punctuation separate words. Apostrophes, hyphens and underscores stay within a word, so “don't”, “well-written” and “first_name” each count as one. Numbers count as words; punctuation and emoji on their own do not. An empty box gives a count of zero. Text without spaces, including some Chinese or Japanese writing, may be counted as one group rather than separated into individual words.
Example
Paste “It's a well-written note.” and select Count. The result is 4 words: “It's”, “a”, “well-written” and “note”. If a 500-word answer contains 537 words, you need to remove at least 37 words to meet that limit.
Practical tip
Count only the text that your word limit covers. Check whether your school, employer or publisher includes headings, references, footnotes and quotations before you paste the draft.
Frequently asked questions
Are hyphenated words and contractions counted as one word?
Yes. A hyphen or apostrophe within a group of letters stays with that word. “well-written” and “don't” each count as one. An underscore also stays within a word, so “first_name” counts as one.
Why might the total differ from Microsoft Word or another editor?
Editors can use different rules for hyphens, punctuation, numbers and text without spaces. This counter uses the rules described above. For a strict submission limit, use the receiving form or the editor specified in the instructions as your final check.
Does the word count update as I type?
Select Count after entering or editing your text to update the result. Copy result copies the displayed total. Reset clears your text and the result; keep a separate copy of a draft you want to save.