How words and characters are counted
- Words are pieces of text between spaces, line breaks and dashes (— or –) that have at least one letter or number. A hyphenated word (“well-known”) or a word with an apostrophe (“don’t”) is one word; a lone “&” or “-” isn’t a word.
- Characters are counted as you see them: an accented letter or an emoji counts once. Spaces and tabs count; line breaks don’t. “Without spaces” leaves out every space, tab and line break.
- Sentences end at a full stop, question mark or exclamation mark followed by a space, or at the end of a line. A full stop after Mr, Mrs, Ms, Dr, St, e.g., i.e. or an initial (J. K.) doesn’t end one.
- Paragraphs are lines with text on them, as in Word, where pressing Enter starts a new paragraph.
Word processors count in much the same way, but small differences (dashes, symbols, footnotes) can make counts differ by a word or two. Google Docs, for example, leaves out headers, footers and footnotes.
Source Google Docs Editors Help · Count the words in a document ↗
How long does it take to read 1,000 words?
A review of 190 studies found adults read English non-fiction silently at 238 words a minute on average (260 for fiction) and read aloud at 183 words a minute. Most adults read non-fiction at 175 to 300 words a minute, so change the reading speed above to match yours.
| Words | Reading (238 wpm) | Aloud (183 wpm) |
|---|---|---|
| 100 | 25 sec | 33 sec |
| 250 | 1 min 3 sec | 1 min 22 sec |
| 500 | 2 min 6 sec | 2 min 44 sec |
| 750 | 3 min 9 sec | 4 min 6 sec |
| 1,000 | 4 min 12 sec | 5 min 28 sec |
| 1,500 | 6 min 18 sec | 8 min 12 sec |
| 2,000 | 8 min 24 sec | 10 min 56 sec |
| 2,500 | 10 min 30 sec | 13 min 40 sec |
| 5,000 | 21 min 1 sec | 27 min 19 sec |
Source Brysbaert · How many words do we read per minute? (2019) ↗
Your text stays on your device
The counting happens in your browser as you type. Your text isn’t sent to us or anyone else, isn’t saved, and isn’t put in the share link: the link only carries your reading speed. Reload the page and the box goes back to the sample.
FAQs
How do I check my word count in Word?
Look at the status bar at the bottom of the window: Word counts the words as you type. Click the count to see characters, paragraphs and lines too. Select some text to count just that part.
How do I check word count in Docs?
In Google Docs, click Tools, then Word count to see pages, words and characters with and without spaces. Tick “Display word count while typing” to keep the count on screen.
Source Google Docs Editors Help · Count the words in a document ↗
How long does a 1000 word essay take to read?
About 4 minutes (4 min 12 sec) at 238 words a minute, the average silent reading speed for non-fiction found by a review of 190 studies.
Source Brysbaert · How many words do we read per minute? (2019) ↗
Can you speak 1000 words in 5 minutes?
Not at an average pace. Reading aloud averages 183 words a minute, so 1,000 words take 5 min 28 sec. For a 5-minute talk, aim for about 900 words.
How many words is a 7 minute speech?
About 1,281 words at the average reading-aloud speed of 183 words a minute (7 × 183).
Is reading 200 words per minute fast?
No, it is a little below average. Adults average 238 words a minute reading non-fiction silently, and most read between 175 and 300.
Is reading 400 words per minute good?
Yes, it is well above average: most adults read non-fiction at 175 to 300 words a minute, 238 on average.
Sources
- Brysbaert: How many words do we read per minute? (2019)
- Microsoft Support: Show word count
- Google Docs Editors Help: Count the words in a document