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Word Count for Documents

Count the words in a DOCX, PDF, ODT, TXT, Markdown, or HTML file without opening it. The word count document summary also shows characters, sentences, paragraphs, pages, reading time, and the words you use most. Paste text if you prefer.

Updated
Your files are processed in your browser and never uploaded.

Your document

Choose a document or drop it here. DOCX, PDF, ODT, TXT, MD, or HTML. Up to 20 MB (PDF 100 MB).

    Counts

    The counts will appear here
    1. Choose a document, or paste text
    2. Everything is counted right away
    3. Read the counts and the top words

    How to count the words in a document

    1. Choose a file or drop it on the box. To count text instead, open the Paste text tab.
    2. The counts appear right away.
    3. Look at Top words to see which words you use most. Untick Hide common words to include words like the and and.

    How it works

    First the text is taken out of the file: DOCX with mammoth, PDF with pdf.js, ODT from its content.xml, HTML without its tags, scripts, and styles, and TXT or Markdown as it is. Then it is counted with the browser's own text segmenter (Intl.Segmenter), which knows where words and sentences end in every language, including ones written without spaces.

    • Characters count what a reader sees as one character, so an emoji or an accented letter counts once.
    • Paragraphs are blocks of text separated by an empty line.
    • Reading time is words ÷ 238 minutes, the average silent reading speed of adults for nonfiction; speaking time is words ÷ 150, a calm presentation pace.

    Examples

    • The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog counts as 9 words, 43 characters, 35 characters without spaces, and 1 sentence.
    • A 2,380-word essay takes 10 minutes to read and about 16 minutes to read aloud.
    • The sample DOCX, a page of meeting notes, is counted from its paragraphs, headings included.

    Why counts differ between apps

    Word, Google Docs, and this tool can disagree by a few words. The usual reasons: hyphenated words (well-known is one word here, as in Word), numbers and symbols (a lone dash is not a word), and text Word counts but a raw read skips, such as footnotes and text boxes. For school or publishing limits, the count in the app you submit from is the one that matters.

    Limitations

    • Scanned PDFs have no text layer, so they count as zero words.
    • Footnotes, comments, and text boxes in DOCX files may not be counted.
    • Old .doc files and spreadsheets are not supported.
    • Documents up to 20 MB, PDFs up to 100 MB.

    Frequently asked questions

    How do I count the words in a PDF?

    Drop the PDF on the box. The words are read from its text layer, and the page count is shown with the other numbers.

    Does it count words in Chinese and Japanese correctly?

    Yes. It uses the browser's word segmenter, which finds word boundaries even in languages that don't put spaces between words.

    How is reading time calculated?

    The word count divided by 238, the average silent reading speed of adults. Speaking time uses 150 words per minute.

    Is my document uploaded?

    No. The file is opened and counted in your browser.

    Often used together with the Document Word Counter.

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    • DOCX to Text

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