Word & Character Counter
By Stuart Mathieson · Updated October 2026
Words
0
Characters
0
Chars (no spaces)
0
Sentences
0
Paragraphs
0
Reading Time
0 min
How the word counter works
- Words are runs of characters between spaces or line breaks, so "don't", "e-mail" and "2026" each count as one word.
- Characters include everything you type, including spaces and line breaks. The second count leaves out all spaces, tabs and line breaks.
- Sentences are counted at each . ! or ?. Abbreviations such as "e.g." can add extra sentences, and words after the last punctuation mark aren't counted as a sentence until they end with one. Text with no sentence punctuation at all counts as one sentence.
- Paragraphs are blocks of text separated by a blank line.
- Reading time is the word count divided by 200, rounded to the nearest minute, with a minimum of 1 minute.
Emoji and some rarer symbols count as 2 characters, because that is how browsers measure the length of text.
Reading time
A large review of reading research (Brysbaert, 2019) found that adults read English silently at about 238 words per minute for non-fiction and 260 for fiction, with most people between about 175 and 300. The 200 words a minute used here is deliberately on the cautious side, which suits more demanding text.
| Words | Reading time shown |
|---|---|
| 250 | 1 min |
| 500 | 3 min |
| 1,000 | 5 min |
| 2,000 | 10 min |
| 5,000 | 25 min |
Frequently asked questions
How is reading time estimated?
Reading time is estimated at 200 words per minute - a little below the average adult silent-reading speed of about 238 words per minute for non-fiction, so it allows for more demanding text. Actual reading speed varies by person and text.
Does the character count include spaces?
Both are shown - one count includes spaces and punctuation, the other counts only non-space characters, since different platforms (like social media character limits) count differently.
Is my text sent anywhere?
No - counting happens entirely in your browser as you type. Nothing is transmitted or stored, and the text is never included in the page URL.
Why is my word count different from my word processor?
Programs count slightly differently - for example in how they treat hyphens, dashes with spaces around them, numbers or footnotes. Differences are usually small; if you need an exact count for a submission, use the tool your school or publisher specifies.
Sources
- How many words do we read per minute? A review and meta-analysis of reading rate - Brysbaert M, Journal of Memory and Language, 2019