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How to Get a Word Count in Google Docs

Use Tools > Word count on a computer or More > Word count in the Android app. See how to keep a live count visible and count selected text.
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On a computer, open your document and select Tools > Word count. Google Docs opens a dialog with the word, character and page counts. To keep a count visible as you write, turn on Display word count while typing in that dialog.

Get a word count on a computer

  1. Open the document in Google Docs.

  2. Choose Tools > Word count.

  3. Read the counts in the dialog. It displays the document’s words, characters and pages.

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For the official computer instructions, see Google Docs Editors Help.

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Keep the count visible while you write

In the Word count dialog, select Display word count while typing, then close the dialog. A word-count box appears at the lower left of the document. Select that box to view the page, word, character and character-without-spaces counts. To hide the live display, open the box and choose the option to hide the word count.

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Use the live display when you want ongoing feedback; open the dialog when you only need a one-time count. Google recommends the live display for shorter documents and the dialog for longer ones.

Count a passage instead of the whole document

Select the text you want counted before opening Tools > Word count. The result applies to the selection rather than the full document. This is useful when checking a paragraph or a section against a word limit.

What Google Docs includes in the count

By default, the count covers the document except for headers, footers and footnotes. Selecting text changes the count to that selection. If a word limit applies to a specific part of an assignment, select that passage first rather than relying on the whole-document total.

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Google’s documentation says word count is available in Google Docs, not Google Sheets or Google Slides. Its Android help also lists documents opened in Microsoft Office Compatibility Mode as unavailable for word count.

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Get a word count in the Android app

  1. Open the document in the Google Docs app.

  2. Tap More (the three-dot menu).

  3. Tap Word count.

The Android app displays words, characters and characters excluding spaces. See Google’s Android instructions.

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Can you count selected text on a phone?

A Google Docs Editors Community reply dated October 13, 2022, from volunteer Product Expert Jo S. Diamond describes selecting text, tapping the three-dot menu and choosing Word count. The reply says the result includes both the selection and whole-document counts. This is community guidance, not current official documentation, so the steps may differ by app version.

Google’s keyboard-shortcut help notes that some shortcuts may not work for all languages or keyboards; the documentation cited here does not establish a universal shortcut for opening Word count. Google Docs keyboard shortcuts.

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