Word and character counter
Paste a text and see it at once: words, characters with and without spaces, sentences, paragraphs, reading time and how long it takes to type. All in your browser, nothing is sent.
- Words
- 0
- Characters
- 0
- Characters without spaces
- 0
- Sentences
- 0
- Paragraphs
- 0
- Reading time
- 0
- Speaking time
- 0
- Typing time at 40 WPM
- 0
40 WPM is the average. How fast do you type?
Measure your typing speedCharacter limits
- Google title (60)60 left
- Meta description (160)160 left
- SMS (160)160 left
- X / Twitter (280)280 left
- Instagram caption (2200)2200 left
- LinkedIn post (3000)3000 left
How the counter counts
Words: every run of characters between two spaces or line breaks is one word. "E-mail" is one word, "10 am" is two, a number like "2026" is one. That matches how Word and Google Docs count.
Characters: every character is counted, punctuation included. "Characters without spaces" leaves out spaces, tabs and line breaks. For limits on social networks and Google, the number with spaces is always the one that counts.
Sentences: a sentence ends with a full stop, question mark, exclamation mark or a line break. Abbreviations like "e.g." count as a sentence end, so the number can run slightly high for texts with many abbreviations.
Paragraphs: blocks separated by an empty line.
Reading time uses 200 words per minute, the usual figure for silent reading of non-fiction. Speaking time uses 130 words per minute, the pace of a presentation. Typing time uses 40 words per minute, the average typing speed of adults.
The character limits that matter
| Where | Limit | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Google title (title tag) | about 60 characters | longer gets cut off in the results |
| Meta description | about 160 characters | Google often shows 120 to 160 |
| SMS | 160 characters | only 70 with special characters, then it splits |
| X (Twitter) | 280 characters | a link counts as 23 characters |
| Instagram caption | 2,200 characters | only the first 125 show in the preview |
| LinkedIn post | 3,000 characters | "see more" after about 210 |
| Cover letter | one page, about 2,500 to 3,500 characters | depending on the brief |
Why typing time is shown
Whoever counts 500 words will type them at some point. At 40 words per minute that is 12 to 13 minutes, at 60 WPM eight, with two fingers at 27 WPM almost twenty. For every email, every set of notes, every report. The counter shows the time at the average; to see yours, the typing speed test takes one minute. And if you want to use your own text as practice: the practice paragraphs show how real work texts work as training, and the way to 60 WPM is in the touch typing course.
Frequently asked questions
Is my text stored?
No. Counting runs entirely in your browser. The text is neither sent nor saved; it is gone when you close the page.
Why does the word count differ from Word?
Usually because of hyphens, slashes and numbers: Word counts "and/or" as one word, some tools as two. Differences of one or two percent are normal. For a limit, the tool that sets the rule is the one that counts.
Do spaces count toward character limits?
Yes. Google, X, LinkedIn and SMS all count spaces. "Without spaces" is only common for translation and copywriting rates billed per 1,000 characters.
How many characters are 1,000 words?
In English about 5,500 to 6,000 characters including spaces; in German about 6,500 to 7,500, because German words are longer on average.
Sources
- Words per minute (Wikipedia) - reading about 200 to 250 words per minute, speaking about 130 to 150, two-finger typists 27 WPM.
- Observations on Typing from 136 Million Keystrokes - Aalto University and University of Cambridge, CHI 2018: average 51.6 WPM across 168,000 participants.