What is it?
The Word Counter counts the words and characters in your text as you type. It also counts sentences and paragraphs, and shows reading and speaking time.
Who is it for?
Students with essay limits, bloggers and SEO writers checking post length, social media managers writing captions and bios, translators quoting by word count, and job seekers fitting a cover letter to a limit.
How to use it
- Type or paste your text in the box.
- The counts update as you type: words, characters, sentences, paragraphs and reading time.
- Tap Copy text to copy your text, or Clear to start again.
How things are counted
- Words: groups of letters or numbers separated by spaces. “well-known” is one word; “e-mail id” is two.
- Characters include spaces and line breaks; Characters (no spaces) leaves them out. Each emoji counts as one character.
- Sentences end with . ! or ?. Abbreviations like “Dr.” can add an extra one.
- Reading time uses about 230 words a minute; Speaking time about 140, a calm speech pace.
The count differs from Word or Google Docs
Each program treats dashes, numbers, URLs and symbols slightly differently, so counts can differ by a few words. If an exam or publisher sets a limit, use the counter they name.
Common limits
- Meta description: about 150–160 characters. Page title: about 50–60 characters.
- X (Twitter) post: 280 characters. Instagram bio: 150. Instagram caption: 2,200.
- SMS: 160 characters in English; 70 if it contains Hindi or emoji.
For limits per platform in one place, try the Character Limit Checker. To cut a long post into parts, use the Text Splitter.
Is my text uploaded?
No. Everything happens inside your browser. Your text is kept in this browser only so it is still there if you reload, and Clear removes it.
Errors and how to fix them
- The count looks too high or too low: hidden line breaks or double spaces from copied text can change the character count. Clean it with Paste as Plain Text first, then count again.
- My old text is still in the box: the counter keeps your last text in this browser so it survives a reload. Tap Clear to start again.
- Hindi or other scripts: words are counted by the spaces between them, so they are counted correctly; reading time is only a rough guide for them.
Open the tool: Word Counter
Still stuck?
Contact support. Tell us which tool or page you were using, what you tapped, what you saw, and your phone or computer and browser (for example: Android phone, Chrome). We reply by email.
Questions, or an error not listed here?
Tell us in the comments: what you were doing, the exact message you saw, and your device and browser. We read every comment and add new fixes to this article.