How to Count Words in Microsoft Word (Desktop, Web, Mac, Mobile)
The live word count sits in the status bar at the bottom of every desktop Word window — click it for a full breakdown covering sentences, paragraphs, and characters as well. If you want to count without launching Word at all, paste your text into the word counter on the homepage. The steps below cover every platform where Word runs.
Word for Windows
The Windows desktop version of Word has the most complete word count tooling. The count appears the moment you open a document; you do not need to open any menu.
Find the live count
Look at the bottom-left corner of the Word window. You will see text that reads something like "Words: 847" while you type. The count updates in real time as you add or delete text.
If you select a range of text, the status bar switches to showing the word count for that selection — useful when you need to check one section without counting the whole document. Click elsewhere to deselect and return to the full document count.
If the word count is not visible in your status bar, right-click anywhere on the status bar and make sure "Word Count" has a checkmark. The status bar is customizable, and an earlier user may have hidden the count.
Get the full breakdown
Click the word count number in the status bar, or press Ctrl+Shift+G, to open the Word Count dialog. The dialog shows pages, words, characters (with and without spaces), paragraphs, and lines. It also includes a checkbox labeled "Include textboxes, footnotes and endnotes" — tick this if your document has content in those areas.
You can reach the same dialog through the ribbon: Review tab → Word Count in the Proofing group.
According to Microsoft Support, textboxes, headers, and footers are excluded from the default count unless you enable that checkbox. If you are writing a paper with extensive footnotes, always tick the box before reporting your final number.
Word for Mac
The Mac desktop version works almost identically to Windows, with a few path differences.
The word count appears in the status bar at the bottom of the document window. Click it to open the Word Count dialog with the full breakdown. The keyboard shortcut is Cmd+Shift+G — the Mac equivalent of Windows' Ctrl+Shift+G.
The menu path on Mac is Tools (in the top menu bar) → Word Count. The Review tab on the Mac ribbon also contains a Word Count button in the same Proofing group as the Windows version.
Selecting text before opening the dialog limits the count to the selection, which is handy when you need to verify just one section.
Word for the Web
Word for the Web — the browser version available through Microsoft 365 and OneDrive — does display a live word count in the status bar at the bottom of the window when you are in Editing view. Click the count to toggle it off; click again to bring it back.
The catch is precision: Microsoft's own documentation describes the web version's count as "approximate" because it does not count words in text boxes, headers, footers, or SmartArt graphics. If your document relies on any of those elements, open it in the desktop app for an exact number.
Access the count via Review tab → Word Count in the Proofing group. There is no keyboard shortcut for this in Word for the Web.
Word for iOS and Android
The mobile Word app stores the word count under the editing menu. Tap the overflow menu (three horizontal dots), then look for Word Count in the list. On some versions the option appears under Review. The count covers the full document; there is no tap-to-select-and-count workflow on mobile.
If you need to count just one paragraph on your phone, copy that paragraph, open your browser, and paste it into the word counter — it works on mobile browsers without any installation.
When you do not want to open Word at all
There are good reasons to count words without ever launching Word:
- You do not have an Office license. Word requires a Microsoft 365 subscription or a one-time purchase. If you only need a word count, that is a steep requirement. Paste your text into the word counter on the homepage instead — it is free and requires no account.
- The file is large and Word loads slowly. A document with many images or tracked changes can take 30 seconds or more to open. Copy the text, paste it into the browser counter, and you have your number in under a second.
- You want to count without uploading your document. A client-side browser counter runs entirely in your browser — your words never leave your machine. That matters when the content is confidential.
How Word counts words vs how other tools count them
Word's counting algorithm includes a few edge cases worth knowing.
Hyphenated compounds count as one word. "State-of-the-art" registers as 1 word, not 4. If your rubric counts hyphenated compounds differently, verify with your editor or instructor before assuming Word's number is definitive.
Numbers written as digits count as one word each: "2024" is 1 word, "two thousand twenty-four" is 4 words. In a figure-heavy document, this distinction can shift your total by dozens of words.
Words inside headers and footers are excluded from the Word Count dialog by default. If you want to include them, tick the relevant option in the dialog. Tracked changes affect the count based on your current view settings — Word counts the text as it currently appears, so accept or reject all tracked changes before running a final count if you want a clean number.
Counting a selection vs counting the whole document
Word's selection counting is one of its most useful and least-known features. Select any portion of text — a paragraph, a section, a chapter — and the status bar immediately updates to show "X of Y words" (selected of total). This is faster than copying text to a separate counter when you want to check individual sections of a long document.
To count one paragraph: click at the start of the paragraph, hold Shift, and click at the end. The status bar updates instantly. To count a section across multiple pages, use Ctrl+Shift+End to select to the end of the document from your cursor position, or Ctrl+A to select everything.
For writers who draft in sections and need each section to hit a specific count — a journalism assignment with 400-word sections, for example — the selection count removes the need to run any arithmetic. If you want to compare tools or need a count alongside a readability score, see the free word counter vs Microsoft Word vs Google Docs comparison.