Word Counter
Words, characters, sentences and reading time — live, as you type.
0 B uploaded — nothing you enter has been sent anywhere?
Other tools send what you type to a server and process it there. Even when they promise to erase it afterwards, your content sits on someone else’s machine in the meantime. Here there is no sending step at all. The more sensitive the content — passwords, contract wording, private notes — the more that difference matters. See how to verify it →
All free tools
Nothing you type is uploaded — how?
Most online converters and textmoa work in fundamentally different ways.
⚠️ Passwords, notes and messages pass through someone else's server while they are processed.
✅ What you type never leaves your device — not one byte. "0 B uploaded" is a measured value.
Because the work happens inside the web page itself, the more sensitive the content — passwords, contract wording, private notes — the safer this approach is.
What people use it for
Why does every app give a slightly different word count?
Paste the same essay into Word, Google Docs and an online form and the counts rarely match exactly. None of them is wrong; each defines a “word,” a “character” and a “sentence” a little differently. This counter updates six numbers as you type: words, characters with and without spaces, sentences, lines and reading time. Knowing the rule behind each one tells you which box to trust for your limit.
A closer look
A word is any run of characters between spaces, tabs or line breaks. “Well-known,” “don’t,” “3.5” and a whole URL are one word each, a dash typed with spaces on both sides counts as a word of its own, and two spaces in a row are still one gap. A character is one Unicode code point, so every letter, digit, space and line break counts as 1. Emoji vary: 😀 is 1, a thumbs-up with a skin tone 👍🏽 is 2, the family emoji 👨👩👧 is 5 (three people plus two invisible joiners), and a flag is 2. An accented letter is normally 1, but if the accent arrives as a separate combining mark, é counts as 2. Characters (no spaces) leaves out spaces, tabs, line breaks and other Unicode spaces such as the non-breaking space.
A sentence ends at a run of . ! ? or … followed by a space, a line break or the end of the text. “Wait...” counts once, 3.5 never counts, and text with no end punctuation at all shows 1. Lines are actual line breaks plus one: blank lines count, a trailing line break adds a line, and text that merely wraps in the box doesn’t. Reading time divides words by 200 and rounds to the nearest minute, showing < 1 min under 200 words.
How to use it
- Type in the box or paste your text. Every number updates as you go, with no button to press.
- Read the box that matches your limit: Words for essays and assignments, Characters for most character limits, and Characters (no spaces) only when a form says spaces are excluded.
- Divide words by sentences for your average sentence length, a quick check on whether a draft reads as dense or choppy.
- Use Copy text to take the finished text back to your form, or Clear (it asks first) to start over. This page doesn’t save your text, so copy it before you close the tab.
When it helps
Common snags
Tip Before you submit, paste the final text into the form itself and check its counter. This page explains why numbers can differ, but the form’s own count is the one that decides.
FAQ
How are words counted?
Words are sequences of characters separated by spaces, tabs or line breaks — the same rule most word processors use. Sentences are counted by terminal punctuation (. ! ?), and reading time assumes about 200 words per minute.
Is my text uploaded anywhere?
No. Counting happens entirely in your browser and your text is never sent to any server. Refresh the page and it's gone.
Do essays and social posts count characters the same way?
Character limits (Twitter/X, meta descriptions, college essays) almost always mean characters including spaces — the "Characters" box here. Some forms exclude spaces; that's the "no spaces" box.