Word Counter — Count Words, Characters & Reading Time
Paste or type your text to instantly see word count, character count, sentence count, paragraph count, and estimated reading time. Everything updates live as you type.
Frequently Asked Questions
How are words counted?
Words are counted by splitting text on whitespace boundaries. Hyphenated words (e.g., "well-known") count as one word, which matches the convention used by most word processors including Microsoft Word and Google Docs.
What is the average reading speed?
The average adult reads approximately 200-250 words per minute. This tool uses 225 WPM as the baseline, which is the figure recommended by research from the Journal of Memory and Language.
How can I count words in a PDF?
Open your PDF, select all text (Ctrl+A / Cmd+A), copy it, and paste it into the text area above. For scanned PDFs you may need an OCR tool first — see our productivity tool reviews for recommendations.
Why is word count important for SEO?
While there is no magic word count for ranking, studies consistently show that comprehensive, in-depth content tends to perform better in search results. Aim for the length that fully answers the user's query rather than hitting an arbitrary number.
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