How to Check Word Count in Google Docs?

• Use the Tools menu on the desktop: Open your Google Docs file, click Tools, and then select Word count to see the word count, including the number of pages, words, and characters (including space).
• Access the word count window more quickly: Command + Shift + C (Mac) or Ctrl + Shift + C (Windows or Chromebook) to open the word count window instantly.
• Track word count as you write: If you want to see the word count as you write, go to Tools > Word count, click the Display word count while typing option, and the word count will display in a small box in the lower left corner of Google Docs.
• Check word count for selected text: Highlight a paragraph, section or sentence and select Word count to display the selected word count and the total word count.
• Word count on your mobile device: Open your document in the Google Docs app for iPhone, iPad, or Android, tap the three-dot menu, and select Word count.

To view the Total Word Count of the document, complete the following steps:

1. Click on Google Docs and open the document.
2. From the top menu bar, click on Tools.
3. Select Word count.
4. The total number of pages, words and characters will appear in a pop-up box.
5. To close the window, click OK or Done.

I tried these steps out in Google Docs Desktop to ensure that they are correct and easy to follow for you. This is the simplest if you only need to take a look at the word count from time to time.

A shortcut to open the word count box is also provided. Use this shortcut when you want to check the word count quickly when writing or when editing.

For Windows or Chromebook:

Ctrl + Shift + C

For Mac:

Command + Shift + C

This is a Word count button that doesn't invoke the Tools menu.

The Google Docs word count tool usually displays:

• Pages
• Words
• Characters
• Characters excluding spaces

Google's help information indicates that word count is included in Google Docs, and that, if not a specific section, it applies to the body of the document, excluding header, footer and footnotes.

A simple method for showing word count while typing. To see the word count while you're typing, enable the live word count option. I suggest you use this when you have a specific word count, like writing an essay, blog article or assignment.

Here is how:

1. Open your Google Docs document.
2. Click Tools.
3. Select Word count.
4. Check the box that says Display word count while typing.
5. Click OK.

Once you activate this feature, the little word count box will appear on the bottom left hand corner of your paper. Click it to view additional information such as the number of pages, characters, and characters without spaces.

You can view the word count of a paragraph, section, sentence or highlighted text on Google Docs.

To count the words that have been selected:

1. Select the text you want to count.
2. Click Tools.
3. Select Word count.
4. The selected word count will be displayed in Google Docs with the total word count for the document.

Useful for checking a particular part, like an introduction, an abstract, a conclusion, a meta description, a chapter or an assignment answer. Google Docs will show the selected word count along with the total document word count.

Word count is available in the Google Docs for Android or iPhone app. Follow these steps:

1. Go to Google Docs app.
2. Open the document to examine.
3. Click on the three dots in the upper-right corner.
4. Select Word count.
5. Count words, characters and characters without spaces.

While convenient for use when reviewing documents on the go, the mobile app doesn't provide quite as easy access to live word count as the desktop version.

To check word count on iPhone:

1. Access the Google Doc app.
2. Tap the document.
3. Click on the three dots on the top-right corner.
4. Choose Word count.
5. Re-check word and character limits.

Steps are very similar for iPad users.

On Android, to check the word count:

1. Open Google Docs app.
2. Open your document.
3. Click on the three dots menu.
4. Tap Word count.
5. Check the total words and characters.

This is available for most Android phones and tablets using Google Docs app.

There are numerous kinds of writing that take into account word count, such as:

• School essays
• College assignments
• Blog posts
• SEO articles
• Research papers
• Reports
• Manuscripts
• Grant proposals
• Cover letters
• Social media captions
• Website content

There are numerous assignments that require a certain number of words. A word count option enables you to make sure that you are not sending too short or too long of content.

• Google Docs word count does not automatically count the number of words in the header/footer or footnotes unless you select text in those sections. Google's support page indicates that if no section is selected on the page, then word count is not included in the headers, footers, and footnotes.
• This detail is one that I personally believe is important as footnotes, headers and footers may not count towards the word count unless they are specifically selected. This is important for academic papers, legal documents, and formatted reports where important text may be found in the footnotes or in the headers.

Yes. Google Docs displays both (for more on the difference between word count and character count, see our word count vs character count guide):

• Characters
• Characters excluding spaces

It can be useful for things like metas, social media posts, forms, abstracts, and platforms with character limits. Click Tools > Word count or press the keyboard shortcut to count the number of characters.

For Example: When writing a 1,000-word blog post or a 500-word homework, you can see the word count while you're writing and don't have to open the Word count box over and over.

Google Docs doesn't offer a word counter that can be used for multiple documents simultaneously. If you want to find out the word count for each document, you will have to open them one by one and check or if all the text is combined, open them as one document to check them all. If writing large, it may be easier to track word count if the chapters or sections are contained in a single organized file.

For most writing, the word counter is included in Google Docs. It is quicker, more secure and more user-friendly than manually copying your content into a third-party application. But, if you have additional information you need, like:

• Keyword density
• Reading time
• Sentence length
• Readability score
• Paragraph count

Google Docs already has the necessary tools for easy word count, character count and page count.

Need to count words in other tools? See our guides on word count in Microsoft Word and counting words in a PDF, or paste your text into our free word counter.