How to Check Word Count on Google Docs and Word

You can check word count in Google Docs without leaving your draft. Use the menu or shortcut, then turn on the live count if you're writing to a limit.

Check your word count in a few clicks

Start with Google Docs' built-in counter. It gives you the word total without copying your draft into another app.

1. Open your document in Google Docs on a computer.
2. Select a passage for a partial count; otherwise, leave the text unselected.
3. Choose Tools > Word count.
4. Read Words, then click Done to close the window.

How to check word count on Google Docs on a computer

Google Docs Editors Help gives Tools > Word count as the menu route. The keyboard shortcuts open the same window, so use whichever is quicker while you're editing.

The window shows Pages, Words, Characters, and Characters excluding spaces. Read Words for a word limit. For a character limit, choose the measure your instructions specify.

To measure just an introduction or another section, highlight that passage before opening Word count. Click back into the document to clear the selection when you're ready to check the full draft.

Shortcuts that open the Word count window

Keep the Google Docs word count visible while typing

Turn on the live count when you're writing to a limit. You'll have the total in view instead of reopening the window after every edit.

Google Docs Editors Help lists Pages, Words, Characters, and Characters excluding spaces in the expanded display. Click the count box to see those measures.

To remove the indicator, click the box and choose Hide word count.

1. Choose Tools > Word count.
2. Check Display word count while typing.
3. Click OK.
4. Click the count box at the bottom left to view its statistics.

Check Google Docs word count on mobile

Use the app's More > Word count control on both Android and iOS. You don't need to copy the document elsewhere to get its count.

If you're cross-checking a particular excerpt, paste the same text into Blurwrite's free word counter. You'll get word and character totals for the passage you supplied.

Copy the text itself rather than a screenshot. Keeping the excerpt unchanged lets you compare the same passage in both places.

1. Open your document in the Google Docs app on Android or iPhone.
2. Select text first if you want to count only that passage.
3. Tap More, the three-dot menu.
4. Tap Word count to see the word and character totals.

Check word count in Word on desktop, web, and mobile

On desktop Word for Windows or Mac, start with the status bar. Microsoft Support says Word counts words while you type.

When you select text, the status bar shows both the passage count and the document count. Clicking the count also gives you character, paragraph, and line statistics.

In Word for the web, choose Review > Word Count. This gives you a direct menu route when you're working in the browser.

On an Android phone or iPhone, enter editing mode if needed, open the Home menu, and choose Review > Word Count. On an iPad, use Review > Word Count on the ribbon.

1. Open your document in desktop Word.
2. Check the word count on the status bar.
3. Select a passage if you need a partial count.
4. Click the word count to open the detailed statistics.

Where to find Word's counter

Read the result and understand what each editor counts

Google Docs Editors Help says the full-document count excludes headers, footers, and footnotes. Microsoft Support describes Word for the web's total as approximate because it leaves out areas such as text boxes, headers, footers, and SmartArt. Check your submission instructions when those areas contain text you need to include.

Here's a counting exercise you can reproduce. Paste this paragraph into the document body, then repeat it until you have four copies: “Before submitting your draft, check the word count, read the instructions, and make sure the total covers exactly the text your teacher asked you to include.”

The paragraph contains 26 words. Four copies therefore contain 104 words, not 100.

Put “Draft length check for the final version of this assignment” in the document's actual header area, not a body paragraph. Add “This note belongs outside the main body of the draft.” as a real footnote attached to a body word. Each contains 10 words.

The expected Google Docs body total is 104 words. One selected copy contains 26 words. If your instructions require the body, header, and footnote together, those passages contain 124 words in total.

Expected counts for the example text

Avoid common counting mistakes and check your final total

If a count looks unexpectedly small, check whether you've left text highlighted. Click in the body to clear the selection, then reopen Word count.

Read the label beside the number before recording it. Words and Characters answer different questions, and Characters excluding spaces is a separate measure.

For a submission assembled from several passages, paste the final text into Blurwrite's word counter. You'll get word, character, sentence, and paragraph counts for that text. Check again after your last edit so the number you submit matches the version you're sending.

Written byHugo WhitfieldEditorUpdated on October 4, 2026