Free Online Word Counter — Count Words, Characters, Sentences & Paragraphs
Count your text
Private and Unicode-aware: counting happens on this device. The default uses your browser’s language-aware word boundaries; publishers and word processors may apply different rules.
Import a local TXT file or drop it here
TXT only, up to 1 MB. The file stays on this device.
Set a word or character goal
Enter your own requirement.
Goal progress
0 of 500 words — 500 remaining (0% complete)
More statistics and counting options
Language-aware mode recognises contractions, decimals, and many languages without spaces. Whitespace mode counts everything between spaces, tabs, or line breaks as one word.
Complete numbers treats 3.14 and 1,000 as one number each; individual digits counts their numeric characters.
Reading and speaking time
Defaults: 225 wpm reading and 130 wpm speaking. Reading time = words ÷ reading speed; speaking time = words ÷ speaking speed. Example: 450 words ÷ 225 wpm = 2 min 0 sec.
Writing analysis details
Average word length
0 characters
Average sentence length
0 words
Estimated pages
0 single-spaced / 0 double-spaced
English readability estimate
Not enough English text
Longest sentence
—
Word frequency
- No words yet
Keyword frequency
- No keywords yet
Phrase frequency
- No repeated phrases yet
Readability uses the Flesch Reading Ease formula (206.835 − 1.015 × words per sentence − 84.6 × syllables per word) with an English syllable estimate. It is a guide, not a writing-quality score, and is not shown for text without enough Latin-script words.
Shortcuts: Ctrl/Cmd + K focuses the text box; Ctrl/Cmd + Enter copies it.
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How to use the word counter
- Add your text: type, paste, drop, or select a TXT file.
- Review the live counts: words, characters, sentences, and paragraphs update beside the text box.
- Set an optional limit: choose a preset or enter a minimum, maximum, target, or range for words or characters.
- Open writing details: review frequency, sentence length, page estimates, and readability when useful.
When counts matter and what each statistic means
Common writing tasks
Word goals help with essays, abstracts, articles, speeches, application answers, and editorial briefs. Character limits are useful for titles, summaries, form fields, metadata, and social drafts. Presets here are editable starting points; always verify a current platform or publisher requirement.
Essential counts
Words are word-like segments in the default mode. Characters with spaces counts user-perceived characters, including whitespace; without spaces removes all Unicode whitespace. Sentences use language-aware boundaries with common abbreviation handling. Paragraphs are non-empty blocks separated by one or more blank lines.
Writing analysis
Unique words are case-insensitive. Frequencies reveal repeated vocabulary and adjacent two- or three-word phrases. Average and longest-sentence measures help spot rhythm. Page estimates use about 500 words per single-spaced page or 250 per double-spaced page.
Counting rules and accuracy methodology
Default language-aware mode: the browser applies Unicode word boundaries and counts segments marked as word-like. Contractions such as “don’t” count as one word; “state-of-the-art” normally counts as four; decimal numbers such as “3.14” count as one; emoji count as characters but not words; and supported scripts without spaces are segmented into words. Common title abbreviations such as “Dr.” are joined to the following sentence for sentence totals.
Every non-whitespace group mode: each uninterrupted run between Unicode whitespace characters counts as one word. In that mode, “state-of-the-art” and “3.14” are each one word, but an unspaced Chinese sentence is also only one group.
Punctuation uses the Unicode punctuation category, whitespace includes spaces, tabs, line breaks, and other Unicode whitespace, and characters are grapheme clusters so a composed emoji is not counted as two UTF-16 code units. Number tokens support Unicode digits and common decimal or grouping separators. Browser language data and external editorial rules can still produce different edge-case results.
Accuracy note: examples below are regression-tested against the default mode. No unsupported precision is claimed. Reading defaults are 225 wpm and speaking defaults are 130 wpm. Last reviewed: 18 July 2026.
Tested counting examples
These expected results use the default language-aware mode. Select Load example to verify one in the counter.
| Case | Text | Words | Characters | Sentences | Paragraphs | Try it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Contraction | don't stop | 2 | 10 | 1 | 1 | |
| Hyphenated words | state-of-the-art | 4 | 16 | 1 | 1 | |
| Numbers | 3.14 and 1,000 | 3 | 14 | 1 | 1 | |
| Emoji | Hello 👋 world | 2 | 13 | 1 | 1 | |
| Multiple spaces | hello world | 2 | 13 | 1 | 1 | |
| Blank line | First line Second line | 4 | 23 | 2 | 2 | |
| Chinese without spaces | 我喜欢学习中文 | 4 | 7 | 1 | 1 |
Exact segmentation for some languages can vary with browser internationalisation data.
Word counter FAQs
How are words counted?
The default language-aware mode uses the browser's Unicode word-boundary rules and counts word-like segments. It handles contractions, decimal numbers, and scripts that do not use spaces. The optional whitespace mode counts each non-whitespace run as one word.
Do hyphenated words and numbers count as words?
In the default language-aware mode, a compound such as state-of-the-art is usually four words, while a decimal such as 3.14 is one word. Number statistics can separately count complete number tokens or individual digits. Browser locale data can affect edge cases.
Are spaces included in the character count?
Characters with spaces includes visible characters and all Unicode whitespace. Characters without spaces excludes spaces, tabs, line breaks, and other Unicode whitespace.
Why can this result differ from Microsoft Word or Google Docs?
Editors, publishers, and word processors can use different rules for hyphens, apostrophes, symbols, headers, footnotes, and non-Latin scripts. Use the counter required by your recipient when an exact official limit matters.
Which languages are supported?
The default mode uses the browser's language-aware Unicode segmentation and supports many writing systems, including scripts that commonly omit spaces. Results depend on the browser's internationalisation data.
Is my text private?
Yes. Typed, pasted, and imported TXT content is processed locally in your browser. This page does not upload or retain the text.
Can I analyse a large document?
You can type or paste large text. Local TXT import is limited to 1 MB to keep the page responsive. Very large text may take longer to analyse on older devices.
Does the word counter work offline?
Once this page and its required assets have loaded, the counter itself can continue working without a connection. Reloading the page offline depends on whether your browser has cached it.