5 Ways to See Live Word Count in Google Docs

In any document, Google Docs makes it simple to observe a live word count. You can see the total number of words in a Google Docs document or just a subset of it.

We’ll go over a few ways to see the live word count for Google Docs in this article, including a few Google Doc add-on apps with live word counters and third-party websites you may use to check the word counts of your papers.

5 Ways to See Live Word Count in Google Docs

1. Turn on Google Docs’ Live Word Count feature.

The Google Workspace team, as you might expect, produced a built-in word count tool that you can use for any Google Doc on your Google Drive.

If you’re using Google Docs in a browser, go to Tools > Word count in the menu above the toolbar at the top of the page. A pop-up will appear with information on the document’s number of pages, words, characters, and characters omitting spaces.

The word count is displayed in the lower left corner of the screen if the Display word count while typing checkbox is selected and OK is selected. The word count is updated in real time as you type. You can choose to have the page count or character count displayed instead by using the dropdown menu.

Use the keyboard shortcuts to rapidly turn on and off the Google Docs word count display. To utilize Command + Shift + C on a Mac, press Command + Shift + C on a PC, then Ctrl + Shift + C on a Mac.

The word count may be viewed in the Google Docs app for Android and iOS by tapping the three dots symbol and then Word count.

It’s vital to note that the native word count feature in Google Docs ignores words in headers, footers, and footnotes.

The character count of the document, including and excluding spaces, will be displayed in a word count box.

 

2. Word Counter Max for Google Docs

Word Counter Max for Google Docs (WC Max) is a Google Docs add-on with a lot of functionality that the native word counter doesn’t have. You can set a total word goal, for example, and WC Max will track your progress. This is important if you have a word restriction on a writing assignment and want to know how close you are to meeting it.

WC Max also has a session word count option, so you can see how productive you were when you’re on a roll. Checking statistics like this might help you improve your process and get more done faster.

This add-on allows you to specify exactly what constitutes a word. Text inside parentheses, text between brackets, and text within tables can all be excluded. You can also configure the add-on to ignore paragraphs that begin with certain terms. Another nice feature is the estimated reading time.

To display a word count box in the center of your screen, choose from WC Max’s full view, minimum view, or barebones floating view.

 

3. Outwrite

Outwrite is a Google Docs add-on that is much more than just a word counter. Outwrite, formerly known as GradeProof, provides suggestions for improving spelling, grammar, style, and structure.

Outwrite also has counts for characters, words, sentences, syllables per word, and words per sentence, among other useful statistics. It calculates your document’s readability and grade-level reading scores, as well as reading and speaking times.

You’ll need to upgrade to one of the paid plans starting at $9.95/month if you want to use Outwrite for anything other than spelling and grammar.

 

4. PB Author Tools

The PB Author Tools add-on for Google Docs is designed for authors of children’s picture books, but it includes tools that any writer will find useful.

Word counts, excluding illustration notes, are displayed using the manuscript word count tool. Art notes are defined as any text included in square brackets [] or any line of text including typical illustration abbreviations as Illo:, Illus:, Illus note, Art note, Illustration note, or Art.

The frequency of words in your manuscript can also be presented as a list or a word cloud in PB Author Tools.

 

5. WordCounter.net

WordCounter.net is one of a few websites dedicated to word counting. Simply copy and paste your content into WordCounter.net to find out how many words and characters you have.

  • You can set up the site options to show a variety of statistics, such as:
  • Per sentence, the average amount of characters is
  • Per sentence, the average number of words is
  • The typical word length is
  • level of reading
  • Time to read
  • The number of words that are unique

The keyword density panel, as well as the find and replace tool, can be useful. However, the Proof Read button is arguably WordCounter.net’s best feature. If you choose it, the site will read your work to you loudly. Increase the volume since you’ll be more likely to notice a typo in the text if you hear its readout.

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