You may need to know how many words are in your Microsoft Word document for a school or work assignment or to meet publishing requirements for a blog post or other document. Microsoft Word counts the words as you type and displays this information in a simple form in the status bar at the bottom of the document window. For expanded statistics on character count, paragraphs, and other information, open the Word Count window.

Word Count in Word for PCs

The status bar displays how many words are in a document without requiring you to open another window. If you don’t see the word count in the status bar, right-click the status bar and choose Word Count to display the word count.

Instructions in this article apply to Word for Microsoft 365, Word 2021, Word 2019, Word 2016, Word 2013, Word 2010, and Word 2016 for Mac.

Count Selected Text in Word for PCs

You can also count the number of words in part of a document. To view how many words are in a sentence or a paragraph in the Word versions for PCs, select the text. The word count of the selected text displays in the status bar at the bottom of the document.

How to Open the Word Count Window

When you need more than a word count, additional information is available in the Word Count window. To open the Word Count window in all versions of Word, go to the status bar and select the word count. The Word Count Window contains information on the number of:

To count the words in several text boxes at the same time, press and hold Ctrl while you make the text selections.

  • PagesWordsCharacters, not counting spacesCharacters, with spacesParagraphsLines

Place a checkmark in the box next to Include Textboxes, Footnotes, and Endnotes if you want them included in the count.

  • Select the text you want to count.
  • Select the Review tab.
  • In the Proofing group, select Word Count.

Word Count in Word for Mac

In Word for Mac, select the word count in the status bar. This displays the number of words, characters, lines, and more. The status bar displays the word count of the entire document unless you select a part of the text. In this case, the count for the selected text displays.

Select the text you want to count.

Select the Review tab.

In the Proofing group, select Word Count.

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