How to Count Words and Characters (With Reading Time)
College application essays with a hard 650-word limit. A meta description that Google truncates past roughly 160 characters. An X post at 280. A conference abstract at 250 words. Writing to a limit is common, and pasting into Word just to see a count is clunky. Word counter counts as you type and, if you pick a limit, shows how much room is left.
Steps
- Paste or type text, or open a .txt or .docx file.
- Pick a limit if you're writing for a specific format.
- Read the counts, reading and speaking times, and top keywords under the box.
What's counted, precisely
- Words are groups separated by spaces and line breaks, so Hindi and other scripts count the same way.
- Characters count each letter, space and emoji once. There are two figures: with whitespace and without.
- Sentences end at
.,!,?or the Hindi danda (।). - Paragraphs are separated by a blank line.
- Reading time assumes 200 words per minute; speaking time 130 words per minute. Handy for timing a speech or video script.
- Pages assume about 500 words per single-spaced page.
- Reading ease uses the Flesch formula, shown for English text of a reasonable length.
Limits
Pick a preset (280 characters for an X post, 160 for a meta description) or choose Custom and type any number of characters or words. The first box counts down and turns red with the number you're over.
Opening files
A .docx or .txt file is read in the browser and its text placed in the box; formatting, images and comments are left out. Old .doc files need saving as .docx first. Only the text in the box counts, so leave the title out if your limit excludes it.
Writing to a limit: practical tips
- Cut adverbs and filler first: "very", "really", "in order to", "the fact that".
- Merge sentences that repeat an idea.
- For meta descriptions, put the important words first; the end is what gets cut.
- For speeches, use the speaking time: a 5-minute slot is about 650 words.
- Check readability on public-facing writing. Long sentences drag the Flesch score down; split them.
Top keywords
Under the box, the most frequent words are listed. Useful for spotting words you overuse ("really", "basically") and, for web writing, checking that your main topic actually appears.
Example: an SOP for a master's application
The university asks for 1,000 words maximum. Paste the draft: 1,214 words, reading time about 6 minutes, reading ease low because of long sentences. Cut the repetitive intro and split three long sentences. Now 987 words and easier to read, with the limit box showing 13 words to spare.
Why counts differ between tools
You may notice Word, Google Docs and this page give slightly different word counts for the same text. Tools disagree on hyphenated words, numbers with commas, URLs, and emoji. For a hard limit set by a university or publisher, check which tool they use, and leave yourself a margin of a few words rather than landing exactly on the limit. For character limits on social posts and meta descriptions, counts are much more consistent, though some platforms count links and emoji differently.
Privacy
The tool page says text and files stay in the tab and nothing is uploaded; the text survives a reload but disappears when you close the tab or press Reset. Only settings such as the limit are remembered. Google ads appear on the page, as across the site.
FAQ
Does the title count? Only text in the box counts.
Why are there two character counts? One includes whitespace, one doesn't.
Can I open a Word file? Yes, .docx (not old .doc).
Is my text stored? Only in the tab; it isn't uploaded.
Writing to a limit? Keep Word counter open beside your draft.
— Alok Kumar Singh