Word Counter — Characters, Words and Bytes at Once
Turn on JavaScript to count — all of it happens inside the browser.
Nothing you type here is sent anywhere. The counting happens entirely in this browser and is gone when you close the tab.
The two most people need
- Characters with spaces
- 0
- Characters without spaces
- 0
Counted alongside
- Words
- 0
- Sentences
- 0
- Paragraphs
- 0
- Lines
- 0
- Bytes (UTF-8)
- 0
- Bytes (wide = 2)
- 0
Byte limits are not all the same. Web forms usually mean UTF-8, where an accented letter is two bytes and a CJK character is three. Older systems and text messages often count wide characters as two. When a form does not say, fit the larger of the two and you are safe either way.
Limit check
Enter a limit to see how much room is left.
About the Word Counter
Put the same text into two counters and you often get two answers. Neither is broken — they are counting different things.
Three decisions do most of the damage. Whether spaces count. Whether a line break is a character. And which encoding a byte limit means. That last one catches people out, because an accented letter is one character but two bytes, and a CJK character is one character but three.
This page does not throw one big number at you. Characters with and without spaces sit side by side, and bytes are given on both of the bases that are actually in use. When a form does not say which it wants, fit the larger and you will clear either.
What you paste stays here. The counting happens in the browser and nothing is uploaded.
Why the number differs between sites
- Paste the text and the numbers change immediately. There is no button to press and nothing to wait for.
- Check which basis your form means before trimming. Five hundred characters with spaces and five hundred without are very different amounts of writing.
- If the limit is in bytes, read both figures. Many forms never say which encoding they use, and fitting the larger clears both.
- Set the limit once and the remaining count stays on screen. Go over and it tells you by how much, which is what you need to decide where to cut.
- Glance at the sentence and paragraph counts too. When a piece hits its length but still reads badly, it is usually one sentence doing too much work.
Frequently asked questions
Is the Word Counter free, and does anything I paste get uploaded?
It is free, there is no account, and nothing is uploaded. The counting runs entirely in this browser and disappears when you close the tab. That is what makes it safe for a cover letter, a contract clause or anything else you would not paste into a service that keeps it.
Another site gives a different number. Which one is right?
Both can be. The count changes depending on whether spaces are included, whether line breaks are characters, and which encoding a byte limit refers to. The only answer that matters is the basis your form uses, which is why this page shows several at once instead of picking for you.
Why are there two byte counts?
Because two conventions are genuinely in use. UTF-8 gives the real encoded length, where a CJK character takes three bytes and an accented letter takes two. Older systems and SMS often count wide characters as two instead. If the form does not say, fit the larger figure.
Does the Word Counter check spelling or grammar?
No. Checking spelling needs a dictionary and grammar rules, and doing it badly is worse than not doing it — a wrong correction damages good writing. This tool does one job and does it exactly.
How is this different from your typing or reading speed tests?
They measure rates and this measures an amount. Typing speed is how fast you produce text, reading speed is how fast you take it in, and this is how much text you already have. Once the length is right, the reading speed test is the one that tells you how long it takes to read.
How many pages is this many words?
No word counter can answer that, because pages are made by your document rather than by your text: the same words fill one page or three depending on the font, its size, the line spacing and the margins. The reliable way is to measure once. Open your own document, count the words that fit on one full page, and use that as your conversion from then on — it stays true for as long as you keep the same layout. If a form or an assignment sets its limit in words or characters instead, this page gives you that directly.
Are emoji and CJK characters counted properly?
Characters are counted the way a person would: an emoji is one even though it is several code points underneath, and a flag made of two is still one. The byte counts behave differently on purpose — there you get the real encoded length, so an emoji can take four bytes.