words count for essay

• Help Us Out
•   Twitter
•   Facebook
•   Google+

Login with your site account:

Create a site account:

0 words 0 characters

• Sentence case
• Text as .pdf
• Text as .txt
• Text as .doc

What is WordCounter?

Apart from counting words and characters, our online editor can help you to improve word choice and writing style, and, optionally, help you to detect grammar mistakes and plagiarism. To check word count, simply place your cursor into the text box above and start typing. You'll see the number of characters and words increase or decrease as you type, delete, and edit them. You can also copy and paste text from another program over into the online editor above. The Auto-Save feature will make sure you won't lose any changes while editing, even if you leave the site and come back later. Tip: Bookmark this page now.

Knowing the word count of a text can be important. For example, if an author has to write a minimum or maximum amount of words for an article, essay, report, story, book, paper, you name it. WordCounter will help to make sure its word count reaches a specific requirement or stays within a certain limit.

In addition, WordCounter shows you the top 10 keywords and keyword density of the article you're writing. This allows you to know which keywords you use how often and at what percentages. This can prevent you from over-using certain words or word combinations and check for best distribution of keywords in your writing.

In the Details overview you can see the average speaking and reading time for your text, while Reading Level is an indicator of the education level a person would need in order to understand the words you’re using.

Disclaimer: We strive to make our tools as accurate as possible but we cannot guarantee it will always be so.

• 0 Unique Words
• 0 Characters
• 0 Characters (no spaces)
• 0 Sentences
• 0 Longest Sentence (words)
• 0 Shortest Sentence (words)
• 0 Avg. Sentence (words)
• 0 Avg. Sentence (chars)
• 0 Avg. Word Length
• 0 Paragraphs
• 0 Syllables
• 0 Words (Publisher)
• N/A Reading Level  
• N/A Reading Time  
• N/A Speaking Time  
• N/A Hand Writing Time  
• More ( 0 ) Share

Keyword Density x1   x2   x3

Keep track of the number of words you write each day using the activity button.   ACTIVITY

This button helps you clean up your document by removing funky characters, unneeded new lines, etc.

• Email Fix (Remove word wrapping)
• Microsoft Word Document Fix (Remove invalid characters)
• Remove multiple new lines

My Writing Details

• N/A Reading Level
• N/A Reading Time
• N/A Speaking Time
• N/A Hand Writing Time

Step 1. What do you want to share?

• Unique Words
• Characters (no spaces)
• Longest Sentence (words)
• Shortest Sentence (words)
• Avg. Sentence (words)
• Avg. Sentence (chars)
• Avg. Word Length
• Words (Publisher)
• Reading Level
• Reading Time
• Speaking Time
• Hand Writing Time

Step 2. What do you want to say?

Step 3. Where do you want to share it?

• Keyword Density

Step 1. What do you want to say?

Step 2. Where do you want to share it?

Upload File

Click the upload button below to select a text document. Supported formats are PDF, TXT, DOC, DOCX, ODT.

Save To Drive

Use this button to save your current writing to Google Drive

You can turn on or off different counting options here.

• Hand Writing Time Letters Per Minute Slow Normal Fast
• Reading Time Words Per Minute Slow Normal Fast
• Speaking Time Words Per Minute Slow Normal Fast

You can turn on or off different buttons provided for different functionalities.

• ACTIVITY Keeps track of your word and character count.
• AUTO-SAVE When turned on, WordCounter will automatically save your document every 30 seconds. You can then switch back to previous versions of your document at any time.
• CASE Gives different case options. Applies to your entire document or only the text you select.
• CLEAN TEXT After pasting a document into WordCounter, this will clean it up by removing invalid characters, word wrapping issues and unneeded new lines.
• CLEAR Delete all of the text in your document.
• DOWNLOAD Download your written text (PDF, TXT, DOC) to your device.
• FIND AND REPLACE Find and replace any words or sentences you want.
• GOAL Set writing goals (such as 500 words) and WordCounter will let you know when you've reached them. You can also share and embed your goals.
• PRINT Print your document quickly and easily.
• PROOF READ   WordCounter reads your document back to you. Make sure to turn up your volume! Rate Valid values are 0.1 to 10 Pitch Valid values are 0 to 2 Voices
• REDO Redo your last changes. Click multiple times to redo multiple changes.
• SAVE Saves your text for later retrieval. Be sure and click the SAVE button each time you want to save.
• SAVE TO DRIVE Saves your document to Google Drive. Great for backup purposes.
• SPEED Use a timer to see how fast you're typing.
• SPELL A powerful spelling and grammar checker for your document.
• TALK TO TYPE   Speak into your microphone and WordCounter will type for you. Language Country
• THESAURUS Select (with your mouse) a word in your document and click the thesaurus button to get a list of synonyms.
• UNDO Undo your last changes. Click multiple times to undo multiple changes.
• UPLOAD Upload your existing document (PDF, TXT, DOC, DOCX, ODT) into WordCounter.

Enter the number of characters, words, sentences or paragraphs you want to set for a goal.

Existing Goals

You can set, delete and edit your goals.

Embed Your Goal into your Web Page

Record your count of words and characters.

New Activity

Previous activities.

You can edit and delete your records.

New Document

Previous documents.

You can load, edit and delete your documents.

Find and Replace

• Help WordCounter
• Embed WordCounter
• Report a Bug
• Privacy Policy

Found a Bug

Essay Word Counter

Start typing to get a list of keywords that are most used

What Is Essay Word Counter?

An essay word counter is a simple yet powerful tool that has the ability to quickly count the number of characters and words within an essay. While the primary goal of an essay word counter is to measure characters and words, this tool allows you to determine the number of sentences and paragraphs that your essay consists of.

If you're tasked with reading your essay aloud in front of a classroom, this online word counter can help you prepare by providing you with an estimated speaking time and reading time. If you're asking yourself "How do I count the words in my essay?", plugging your essay into an online word counter will allow you to receive nearly instantaneous results.

Benefits of Using This Tool Compared to Alternatives

Online word counter tools offer the functionality you need to determine what your current essay word count is. There are several additional tools that can provide you with similar functionality, which include Microsoft Word, Google Docs, and PDF documents. Even though all of these alternatives allow users to measure the word count and character count for their essay, they lack many of the extra features that set the online tool apart from the competition.

Wordcounter vs Microsoft Word

When comparing this online word counter to Microsoft Word, the online word counter allows users to paste any kind of text into the box. Even if the text comes from a PDF file, it can be easily copied into the word counter. Among all of the alternatives for an essay word counter, Microsoft Word may be the most comprehensive of the three. Along with measuring the number of words, it can also count characters, pages, lines, and paragraphs. The main issue with Word, however, is that it's less intuitive than using an online tool.

When you click on word count in Microsoft Word, you'll be provided with data on the lines, paragraphs, words, and other aspects of your essay. However, the word count extends to every page of the Word document. To identify the number of words and characters in a specific section, you'll need to highlight the section and select the word count option again.

Wordcounter vs Google Docs

As for Google Docs, this tool doesn't display a status bar that tells you how many words are present in the document. To receive an updated word count, you must select the "Tools" tab that's found in the "Menu" section. From here, you'll be able to select "Word Count". When compared to the online word checker tool, Google Docs doesn't include information about how many sentences are in your essay or the frequency of a specific word.

Wordcounter vs PDF Tool

When it comes to a PDF document, you'll find that these documents are similar to Google Docs in that they don't include a status bar. You're also unable to access any kind of menu that allows you to view the word count of the essay you're writing. There are two distinct options for identifying the word count in your essay. First, you can convert the PDF file into what's known as the Rich Text Format, which makes it easier for you to count the words. You could also upload the file directly into this online word counter, which will give you an accurate word total.

The primary benefit of using the online word counter tool is that there are a number of exclusive features like speaking time and reading time that can't be found in other tools like Microsoft Word and Google Docs.

Essay Length Best Practices

Whether you're writing an essay for a high school class or for graduate school, there are some best practices that can guide you through the process and help you write the best essay. The most important element of writing an essay is getting the length right. If the essay is too long, there's a good chance it isn't as succinct and direct as it should be. The essay length guidelines you should adhere to include:

High school essay

The average essay word count for a high school essay is 300-1,000 words. Most high school essays are five paragraphs long with an introductory paragraph, three total body paragraphs, and a conclusion paragraph.

College admission essay

This essay should be around 200-650 words long. Along with having a set word limit, these essays should include a look at your motivations and interests.

Undergraduate essay

This essay can be around 1,500-5,000 words long. The content and length depend on the college and program you're entering.

Graduate admission essay

An admission essay should be 500-1,000 words in length. Make sure you include a lengthy personal statement that details your motivations and academic achievements.

Graduate school essay

This extended essay word count is usually around 2,500-6,000 words. The assignment you receive depends on the course you're in. Most graduate-level essays are lengthy and can involve research papers.

IB extended essay

The IB extended essay word count is 4,000 words. This essay is mandatory for every student of the International Baccalaureate program and is based on independent research.