Count words, characters and reading time
Type or paste text to see the number of words, characters with and without spaces, sentences and paragraphs, plus estimated reading and speaking time. The counts update as you type, and the text never leaves your browser, so it is safe for unpublished work.
How each count works
- Words are anything separated by spaces or line breaks. A hyphenated word such as e-mail counts once, as do numbers and contractions like don't.
- Characters include every letter, digit, punctuation mark and space. The second figure leaves out spaces, tabs and line breaks.
- Sentences end with a full stop, a question mark or an exclamation mark. Abbreviations such as e.g. or Dr. can push the count slightly too high.
- Paragraphs are blocks of text separated by line breaks.
Reading and speaking time
Reading time assumes 200 words per minute and speaking time 150, both rounded up to the next minute. For comparison, a 2019 review of 190 reading studies by the psychologist Marc Brysbaert put the average adult's silent reading speed for English non-fiction at about 238 words per minute, with most people between 175 and 300, and reading aloud at about 183. The estimate here is deliberately a little slow, so readers rarely need longer than it says. Talks and presentations run slower than reading aloud because of pauses, which is why 150 words per minute is a sensible planning figure for a speech.
Common limits worth knowing
- Posts on X: 280 characters for a standard account.
- Text messages: 160 characters per SMS using standard Latin characters, but only 70 once the message contains an emoji or a non-Latin script. Longer messages are split and billed as several.
- Google search results: titles are cut off at roughly 600 pixels wide, about 50 to 60 characters, and descriptions at around 155 to 160 characters.
- The Common App personal essay: 250 to 650 words.
- A five-minute speech: about 650 to 750 words at a relaxed speaking pace.
Platforms count in slightly different ways, especially with links and emoji, so leave a little room when you are close to a hard limit.
Writing to a word count
If you are over a limit, cut whole sentences before trimming words: filler openings, repeated points and long examples usually go first. If you are under, add a specific example or a number rather than padding, because markers notice the difference. And remember that many assignments count the title and references separately; check the brief before you cut.