How to Count Words in Google Docs
To count words in Google Docs, click Tools, then Word count. You can also press Ctrl+Shift+C on Windows or ChromeOS, or ⌘+Shift+C on a Mac. A box opens showing the pages, words, characters and characters without spaces.
That is all most people need. Below are the steps for a live count, a count for just part of a document, and the phone app. We also tested how Docs counts tricky items like dates and abbreviations, because the result can surprise you.
How to check word count in Google Docs on a computer
- Open your document in Google Docs.
- Click Tools in the menu at the top.
- Click Word count.
- Read the totals, then click OK to close the box.
The keyboard shortcut opens the same box. These shortcuts come from Google’s own list of Docs shortcuts.
How to show the word count while you type
If you are writing to a limit, a live count saves you opening the box again and again.
- Open Tools, then Word count.
- Tick Display word count while typing.
- Click OK.
A small word count box appears in the bottom left corner of the page. Click it to see pages, words, characters and characters without spaces. To remove it, click the box and choose Hide word count.
How to count words in part of a document
Select the text you want to count, then open Tools, then Word count, or use the shortcut. Docs then counts only the text you selected.
This is useful when one section has its own limit, such as an abstract, a personal statement answer or a single essay question.
How to see word count in the Google Docs app
On Android, iPhone and iPad:
- Open the document in the Google Docs app.
- Tap More, the three dots in the top corner.
- Tap Word count.
The app shows words, characters and characters without spaces. These steps follow Google’s help page on word count.
What Google Docs does not count
Google says the word count covers everything except headers, footers and footnotes, unless you select part of the document yourself.
This matters for school and college work. If your footnotes or a header carry a lot of text, the Docs total will be lower than the full text on the page. Check your assignment rules to see whether footnotes count toward the limit.
How Docs counts tricky words: our test
Word counters do not all agree on what a “word” is. To see how Google Docs handles awkward cases, we typed each item below into a blank Google Doc on 8 November 2026 and recorded the Word count result. We then checked the same text in our free word counter.
| Text | Google Docs | Our word counter |
|---|---|---|
| well-known | 1 | 1 |
| don’t | 1 | 1 |
| rock & roll | 2 | 2 |
| 10% | 1 | 1 |
| 2026-11-08 | 1 | 1 |
| word—word (dash with no spaces) | 1 | 2 |
| word — word (dash with spaces) | 2 | 2 |
| 3.5 million | 3 | 2 |
| U.S.A. | 3 | 1 |
| email@example.com | 3 | 2 |
| https://getintotools.com/tools/word-counter/ | 5 | 4 |
| A normal 125-word paragraph | 125 | 125 |
What the test shows:
- For normal writing, the counts match. A plain 125-word paragraph gave exactly 125 words and 644 characters in both.
- Docs splits at full stops inside a word. It counted “U.S.A.” as three words and “3.5” as two words, so “3.5 million” came out as three.
- Docs joins words around a dash with no spaces. “word—word” counted as one word, while our counter treats it as two.
- Web and email addresses vary the most. Expect any two tools to disagree on these.
The differences are small, often only a few words in a long essay. They can still matter when you are writing right at a strict limit. If your teacher or editor checks your count in Google Docs, use the Docs number. If they use Microsoft Word, see how to check word count in Word.
We changed our own tool after this test. Before, it counted “well-known” as two words. It now counts hyphenated words as one, the same as Google Docs.
Why your word count might be different elsewhere
If you paste the same text into another tool and get a different number, the usual reasons are:
- Headers, footers and footnotes. Docs leaves them out. A tool that counts pasted text includes whatever you paste.
- Abbreviations, numbers and dashes. As the test shows, each tool splits these slightly differently.
Quick answers
- Menu: Tools, then Word count.
- Shortcut: Ctrl+Shift+C, or ⌘+Shift+C on a Mac.
- Live count: tick “Display word count while typing”.
- Part of a document: select the text first.
- Phone or tablet: More (three dots), then Word count.
- Not counted: headers, footers and footnotes.
Need to know what your count means in practice? See how many pages 1,000 words fills, or how many words a 5 minute speech needs if you are writing a talk. To check text from anywhere, including emails and web forms, paste it into the word counter.