Readability

Where is the Word Count on Microsoft Word?

If you’re looking for the word counter on Microsoft Word, perhaps to check if your college essay or blog post is of acceptable length, then we’ll tell you how to find out the answer to this useful article.

Don’t worry – we’ve got you covered! If you’re looking for the word counter on Microsoft Word, perhaps to check if your college essay or blog post is of acceptable length, then we’ll tell you how to find out the answer to this useful article.

Why You Might Need a Word Counter Tool

A word count tool is always useful.

Often, when briefed to write an article, there’s a word count restriction. For example, a long form piece of copy is usually anything from 1,500 words to 3,000 words +.

A short blog post might be around 300 to 500 words, a press release around 400 words – or a college assignment such as a thesis statement as much as 10,000 words. Going over word count might result in a penalty.  This is why you should keep an eye on the quantity of text you use.

Now, there are various ways of determining word count for your Word document. There’s the tool along the status bar (menu bar) that’s used with Word as well as a pop-up menu when you right-click (in some Word versions) and there are other online word counter tools that are good options.

The Best Word Counter Tools Online

One of our favourite word counter tools is Originality AI. Not only does this reliable word counting tool tell you your overall word count (including characters and special characters) but it also has other brilliant count features!

For example, Originality AI does the following:

  • Check your entire document for plagiarism so you know that your work is 100% original.
  • Checks for AI-generated content, so you know that your work was written by yourself and not an automated tool.
  • Assesses the number of paragraphs, number of sentences and more.

So it’s worth having there right next to you perhaps as a keyboard shortcut whenever you write up an article.

What About the Word Tool in Word?

You can check your current word count using the Word tool. It’s easy to do, simply open up your Word document (start with a blank document if you like) and follow these instructions:

Instructions for Using the Word Tool in Word

  • Either look at the bottom-left corner of your page and you’ll see the word counter tool counting up your words in a dialog box. There’s a very short delay in between your typing speed and the correct number displayed (in real time).
  • If you want to select a portion of text, simply highlight the text and the Word counter will automatically tell you how many words you’ve typed (not an approximate word count but an accurate word count).

How to Find the Word Counter Tool in Word

Not every Word document displays a word count feature – it depends on the version you’re using but if you can’t see your word counter, on the left-hand side don’t worry. Just right-click anywhere on your status bar (usually displayed at the bottom of your screen unless you’ve specified otherwise) and a file menu will pop-up with the Word Count option.

Done that?  Great, next click on the Word Count menu and you’ll see your number of words displayed.

Now, with Originality AI you get a lot more, it's packed with rich knowledge and count statistics plus additional statistics. When you copy and paste your essay into the text box, the tool works in real time to display all results. By all results we’re talking about character count – with and without spaces too,  and count of lines which is more than the word counter in Word can do.

That’s why Originality AI is infinitely more useful than the standard basic word count in Word and why we recommend subscription benefits.

Final Words on Finding Out Your Essay Word Count

There's no need for training courses because this piece obviously just discusses finding out the word count using a Word document (not quite the same as Google Docs). It’s straightforward – but if you’re using another format, or indeed any format, perhaps for a school assignment or other and you need to work out your word count, it’s best to use a reliable online tool such as Originality AI, to make life easier! 

You won't have to fill in an online form, just paste the text into the document window box and view the results.

Jonathan Gillham

Founder / CEO of Originality.ai I have been involved in the SEO and Content Marketing world for over a decade. My career started with a portfolio of content sites, recently I sold 2 content marketing agencies and I am the Co-Founder of MotionInvest.com, the leading place to buy and sell content websites. Through these experiences I understand what web publishers need when it comes to verifying content is original. I am not For or Against AI content, I think it has a place in everyones content strategy. However, I believe you as the publisher should be the one making the decision on when to use AI content. Our Originality checking tool has been built with serious web publishers in mind!

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