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How to do a Character Count in Word

Microsoft Word character count lets you check the number of characters in a document. Find how to do a character count in Word in an easy way.

What to Know

  • To get a character count in Word, click the “Review” tab and select the “Word Count” option.
  • You can see the number of characters with and without spaces.
  • You can add the Word Count icon to the Quick Access Toolbar of Word, so it’s just a click away.
How to do a Character Count in Word

Microsoft Word has a Word Count feature that allows you to count the characters of a document. It also shows the total number of Words, pages, paragraphs, and lines.

Note: Instructions in this article apply to Word 365, Word 365 for Mac, Word 2021, Word 2021 for Mac, Word 2019, Word 2019 for Mac, Word 2016, and Word 2016 for Mac. I’m using Word for Microsoft 365 as an example.

RELATED: How to Check the Word Count in Microsoft Word Document

How to Count Characters in Word

You can count characters in Word for your entire document or just a part of a text.

Steps to Count Characters in Word for Windows

Here is how I did it in Word on my Windows 11 laptop.

Shortcut: Press Ctrl + Shift + G on your keyboard simultaneously to check character count in Word and other document stats on your screen.

How to count characters in Word 1
  1. Highlight the text you want to count or leave no text selected.
  2. Select the “Review” tab in the ribbon menu.
  3. Then click the “Word Count” option from the Proofing group.
  4. The Word Count dialog box will pop up. You can check the character count (with spaces or no spaces).

Tip: The number next to Characters (with spaces) is what you need to check and is the total number of characters.

Steps to Count Characters in Word for Mac

The steps to get a character count in Word for Mac are as follows:

  1. Launch your doc in Word for Mac.
  2. Highlight the text you want to count or leave no text selected.
  3. Click the “Tools” menu at the top. Then, select “Word Count” from the list. The character count appears next to Characters, as seen in the image below.

Note: If you don’t want Word to count textboxes, footnotes, and endnotes, uncheck the box.

How to Check Character Count in Word with a Single Click

In Word, you can easily add the Word Count tool to the Quick Access toolbar, which is the row of icons in the upper left corner of the title bar. 

After you’ve added it, you can select the icon to count characters in Word document without going to the Review tab. Here’s how to do it:

In Word for Windows

  1. Select the “Review” tab from the Ribbon menu and right-click the “Word Count” option. 
  2. A menu will appear, then select “Add to Quick Access Toolbar.

In Word for Mac

  1. Click the drop-down arrow on the right of the Quick Access Toolbar in the Word menu.
  2. Select “More Commands.
  3. From the Ribbon & Toolbar window, choose the Quick Access Toolbar tab.
  4. Under Choose commands from, select “Review Tab.
  5. Scroll down and choose “Word Count.” Then, to add it to the Customize Quick Access Toolbar list, select the right arrow.
  6. To confirm, click “Save.

Character Count in Word Online

If you don’t have MS Word installed on your computer and need to count characters in your document, you can use Microsoft Word online for free. Here’s how:

Sign in to Word Online

1. Visit the Word Online webpage and sign in.

Upload your doc to Word Online

2. Select the Word app and upload your doc.

In Word Online, click Review > Word Count

3. Once your file opens in Word Online, click Review > Word Count.

Document stats dialog box showing character count

4. In the Document Stats dialog box, check the number of characters in your Word doc.

Tip: The number under “Characters” is the total character count of your document with spaces. It also shows characters without spaces, in case you want to know.

RELATED: How Do I Use Microsoft Office for Free on the Web

Conclusion

I hope this article helped you learn how to count characters in Word. You should now be able to do a character count in Microsoft Word with ease.

This feature assists you in keeping track of your writing, whether for work, school, or practice.


Where is Character Count in Word?

You can find the character count in Microsoft Word by clicking the Word Count option at the bottom left of the status bar. It will show you the character count of your entire document (with spaces or without spaces).A Yellow arrow pointing to the location of Character Count in Word


Reference:

  1. https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/show-word-count-3c9e6a11-a04d-43b4-977c-563a0e0d5da3

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