Word Counter
Count words, characters, and sentences instantly.
Counting words, characters and sentences
Word limits are everywhere — essays, meta descriptions, tweets, journal abstracts, application forms — and most of them are enforced strictly. This word counter gives you words, characters with spaces, characters without spaces and sentences at the same time, updating as you type, so you can trim to a limit rather than guess and get rejected.
How to use the Word Counter
- Paste or type into the Text box.
- All four counts update live as you edit.
- Use characters-without-spaces for limits that exclude whitespace.
- Nothing is uploaded — the counting happens in your browser.
Formula and a worked example
Words = runs of non-space characters
Characters = every character, with and without spaces
Sentences = segments ending in . ! or ?
Different tools count slightly differently. Hyphenated compounds normally count as one word, and a standalone numeral counts as a word. If a submission system disagrees with this count by one or two, it is almost always down to hyphens or trailing whitespace.
Worked example
The sentence "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog." is 9 words, 45 characters with spaces, 36 without, and 1 sentence.
Common limits worth knowing
- Meta description — about 155 characters before Google truncates it
- Title tag — about 60 characters
- X / Twitter post — 280 characters
- Journal abstract — commonly 150 to 250 words
Frequently asked questions
Does it count hyphenated words as one or two?
One. 'State-of-the-art' counts as a single word, which matches how most word processors behave.
Why does my word processor give a different number?
Usually because of how each tool treats hyphens, numbers, headers and footnotes. Differences of one or two words are normal.
How many characters should a meta description be?
Around 150 to 155. Beyond that Google usually truncates it with an ellipsis.
Is there a length limit on the text I can paste?
No practical limit. Counting runs in your browser, so even long documents are handled instantly.
Related calculators
Other tools people use alongside the word counter.