Word Counter
Count words, characters, sentences, and paragraphs as you type, or drop in a .txt, .md, or .pdf file. Everything runs in your browser. Nothing is uploaded.
How to use
- Type or paste your text into the box. Every count updates live as you type. There is no button to press.
- Read the tiles below the box: words, characters with and without spaces, sentences, paragraphs, and the estimated reading time.
- To count a document instead of pasting it, drop a .txt, .md, or .pdf file onto the text box or pick one with the file button. Text and Markdown fill the box at once. A PDF is read page by page while the box shows which page is being read, then the extracted text fills it.
- Clear the box to start over. Nothing you type or load is saved anywhere.
Frequently asked questions
Is my text uploaded or stored anywhere?
No. Every count happens in your browser tab. Your text and any file you drop in are read locally with the browser's own File API, nothing is uploaded, nothing is stored, and the page sets no cookies. Once the page has loaded, it keeps working offline. Ad slots on the page are served by third-party networks, which follow their own privacy policies.
What counts as a word?
A word is any run of non-whitespace characters; spaces, tabs, and line breaks separate them. "don't" is one word, "well-known" is one word, and a standalone number like 2024 counts as one. The counter splits on whitespace only, so an em dash or a row of symbols surrounded by spaces counts too.
What counts as a sentence?
A sentence ends at a period, question mark, or exclamation mark followed by a space or the end of the text. Runs like "..." or "?!" count as one boundary, and a decimal like 3.14 or a web address does not split a sentence because the dot is glued to more characters. The rule is deliberately simple: an abbreviation like "Dr." also ends a sentence, so "Dr. Smith called." counts as two.
What is the reading time based on?
The estimate divides your word count by a fixed 225 words per minute, a common pace for silent reading. The pace never changes with the text, so the same words always produce the same estimate. Reading aloud is slower and skimming is faster.
How does PDF counting work?
Drop in a .pdf file and the page reads it with the pdf.js library running in your browser tab, one page at a time, and shows a page counter while it works. The extracted text lands in the box and the same word, sentence, and paragraph rules apply to it as to pasted text. The file never leaves your browser.
Why does my PDF count fewer words than I expected?
Extraction only sees text embedded in the PDF. A scanned page is a photograph, so it has no embedded text and contributes nothing, and image-heavy layouts can reorder runs of text. Check the box after the count: if the extracted text looks wrong, paste the text in yourself.
How large a file can I drop in?
Only .txt, .md, and .pdf files are accepted, and they are read straight into the browser tab. Nothing is sent anywhere, so there is no upload limit. Text files of tens of megabytes count in a moment, and large PDFs read a page at a time; the real limit is your browser tab's memory, so split exports larger than that into pieces first.