NoteFast / Word count in Google Docs
How to see the word count in Google Docs
Press Ctrl + Shift + C (⌘ + Shift + C on a Mac). Here is the rest – the live counter, mobile, selections, and every other editor.
Google Docs, step by step
- Open your document.
- Click Tools in the menu bar, then Word count – or use the shortcut above.
- The box shows pages, words, characters and characters excluding spaces.
- Tick Display word count while typing and press OK. A small counter now stays in the bottom-left corner; click it to switch between words, characters and pages.
To count just one section, select it first. The counter then reads "120 of 1,480 words".
Why Docs and Word give different totals
Each app has its own rules. Google Docs counts some words joined by slashes, hyphens or em dashes as separate words, and it ignores headers, footers and footnotes. Microsoft Word counts a spaced dash as a word and can include footnotes and text boxes. On a typical essay the difference is a handful of words; on technical writing with URLs and codes it can be larger.
If you want to see exactly which choices change the total, the word counter has an interactive "what counts as a word" panel where you can flip each rule.
Word count in other editors
| App | Where to find the word count |
|---|---|
| Google Docs (web) | Tools > Word count, or Ctrl/⌘ + Shift + C. Tick "Display word count while typing" for a live counter. |
| Google Docs (mobile) | ⋮ menu > Word count. |
| Microsoft Word | Live count in the status bar at the bottom. Click it (or Review > Word Count) for characters, paragraphs and lines. Ctrl + Shift + G on Windows. |
| Apple Pages | View > Show Word Count. Click the counter to switch to characters or paragraphs. |
| Notion | ••• menu at the top right of a page shows word count at the bottom of the menu. |
| Microsoft Outlook / Gmail | Neither shows a live count. Paste the draft into a word counter. |
| Obsidian | Word and character count appear in the status bar (core plugin "Word count"). |
| Scrivener | Project > Project Targets for totals; the footer shows the document count. |
Counting text that isn't in a document
Emails, form fields, social posts and chat messages usually have no counter. Paste the text into the NoteFast notepad or the character counter to check it before you send.