Help & FAQ
How to use the Word Counter
How to use the word counter
- Type in the box or paste text from a document, email or web page.
- Counts update as you type. Use the character limits panel to check posts, meta descriptions and text messages.
- Press Clear to start again.
What each number means
- Words: runs of letters or numbers, with contractions such as "don't" counted as one word.
- Characters: everything, including spaces and line breaks.
- Sentences: text ending in . ! ? or …, or separated by a blank line.
- Paragraphs: blocks of text separated by at least one empty line.
- Reading time: words ÷ 238 words per minute, the average adult silent reading speed for non-fiction.
- Speaking time: words ÷ 140 words per minute, a typical pace for presentations.
Typical length targets
- College application essays: often 250–650 words.
- Blog posts: 800–2,000 words, depending on the topic.
- A five-minute speech: about 700 words.
Is my text saved or uploaded?
No. Counting happens in your browser as you type. The text isn't saved, isn't sent to SomethingTools and disappears when you close the tab.
Why does my word processor show a slightly different count?
Tools disagree on edge cases like hyphenated words, numbers, URLs and em dashes. This counter uses your browser's built-in language-aware word segmentation, which also handles languages that don't separate words with spaces.
How are emoji and accented letters counted?
As one character each, the way you see them. A flag or a thumbs-up with a skin tone is one character even though it is stored as several code points.