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Counting words in text online
When students write academic projects, a specific word count is often required. But how do you count words in a text if you're constantly changing it, adding or removing something? An online word counter can help. You simply paste the text into the field — and you're done!
Such a word counter is available on Ratatype. It works for different languages: English, German, Spanish, Portuguese, and more, and allows you to count words, characters, and characters without spaces. Just try typing text in it or pasting ready text, and see for yourself how simple and fast it is.
We recommend adding the Ratatype words calculator to your bookmarks straightaway so it's always to hand.
How to count words in Google Docs
If you're accustomed to working in the Google Docs editor, you can also use a character calculator here. Click on "Tools" in the menu and select "Word count". You can also enable the word count display feature on screen whilst typing.
This may not be as convenient as an online word calculator if you're not working in Google Docs and want to check text from another source, as you'll need to create a new document. But for regular users of the service, it's a great help.
How to count words in Word
Counting words and characters in Microsoft Word is quite straightforward. Whilst typing, the word count is displayed on the bottom panel. If you also want to see the character count, right-click on the bottom menu and add character count display to the list.
If you wish to find out how many characters and words are in selected text, click the "Review" button in the top menu and select "Word Count".
Which tool for counting words and characters to choose
If you want to quickly count characters or words in a text, and you're not working in either Google Docs editor or Word, an online word calculator is the optimal choice. Simply copy the text, paste it into the word counter — and you're done!
If you're accustomed to working in an editor, you can always use the built-in character-counting features.
Choose what works best for you, and remember that on Ratatype you can not only find out the number of words and characters in a text but also learn touch typing.
