Word Counter

Count words, characters, sentences and paragraphs as you type, with reading time and limits for X, Instagram and meta tags. Free, nothing is uploaded.

Runs in your browser. Your files are never uploaded. How it works

0Words
0Characters
0Characters without spaces
0Sentences
0Paragraphs
0 sReading time
0 sSpeaking time

Limits

  • X (Twitter) post280 left
  • Instagram caption2200 left
  • LinkedIn post3000 left
  • Meta description160 left
  • Page title60 left
  • SMS (1 message)160 left

Most used words

  1. Start typing to see them.

Word Counter counts the words, characters, sentences and paragraphs in your text as you type or paste. It also shows reading and speaking time, how many characters you have left for common limits such as an X post or a meta description, and the words you use most. Everything happens in your browser.

How to count words

  1. Type in the box, or paste text from a document, email or web page.
  2. The counts update straight away: Words, Characters, Characters without spaces, Sentences, Paragraphs, Reading time and Speaking time.
  3. Check the Limits panel to see how many characters are left, or how many are too many, for each platform.
  4. Look at Most used words to spot repetition. Short common words such as “the” and “and” are left out.
  5. Click Clear to start again.

Limits at a glance

Limit Characters What it is for
X (Twitter) post 280 A standard post on a free account
Instagram caption 2,200 Text under a post or reel
LinkedIn post 3,000 A normal feed post
Meta description 160 The snippet search engines may show
Page title 60 The title shown in search results and tabs
SMS (1 message) 160 One plain-text message; longer texts are split

The limits use the full character count, with spaces. When the text is over a limit, the figure turns red and shows how many characters are too many.

What counts as a sentence and a paragraph

A sentence ends with a full stop, question mark or exclamation mark, and the last sentence counts even without one. A paragraph is a block of text separated from the next by an empty line, so press Enter twice between paragraphs. Abbreviations such as “e.g.” can add an extra sentence, so treat the sentence figure as a guide.

Tips

  • Essays and assignments: paste only the body. Titles, references and footnotes usually do not count towards a word limit.
  • Repetition check: if one word takes a high share in Most used words, try a synonym in a few places.
  • Speeches: at 150 words per minute, a five-minute talk is about 750 words.
  • Changing case: to fix capitals in a heading or a list, use the Case Converter.
  • From a recording: turn speech into text with Audio to Text, then paste it here to count it.

To see what changed between two drafts, paste them into Text Compare. For data in JSON format, the JSON Formatter validates and tidies it.

Private by design

Your text is counted on your own device and never uploaded. Nothing you type is saved or sent to a server. See how it works.

Frequently asked questions

How are words counted?

A word is a run of letters or numbers, so "don't" and "well-known" count as one word each. Punctuation, symbols and emojis on their own are not words. Chinese, Japanese and Korean text is counted one word per character, the same way Microsoft Word does it.

Do spaces count as characters?

In the Characters figure, yes: every letter, space, line break and punctuation mark counts. Characters without spaces leaves out spaces, tabs and line breaks. Social networks and SMS limits use the full count with spaces.

How is reading time worked out?

Reading time is the word count divided by 238 words per minute, a common average for silent reading of non-fiction. Speaking time uses 150 words per minute, a comfortable pace for a talk or a presentation.

Why does my count differ slightly from another tool?

Tools treat hyphens, numbers, URLs and symbols in different ways. The difference is usually a few words in a long text. If a school or publisher gives a limit, use the counter they name, and treat this one as a close guide.

Is there a length limit?

No fixed limit. Long texts such as a full thesis work, though counting may lag a fraction of a second after each keystroke on very long documents.

Is my text sent anywhere?

No. The counting runs in your browser. Your text is not uploaded, stored or logged, so it is safe for drafts, essays and confidential documents.

More ways to use Word Counter

Related tools

Case ConverterSwitch text between 12 cases, from Sentence case and Title Case to camelCase and snake_case.Text CompareCompare two versions of a text and see changed lines and words highlighted, side by side or in one column.Image to TextRead the text in a screenshot, photo or scan and copy it, without uploading the image.PDF to TextGet the text out of any PDF, including scans. Scanned pages are read with OCR in your browser.