To see the word count in Google Docs, follow these steps depending on your device:
On a Desktop or Laptop Browser
- Open your Google Docs document.
- Click on Tools in the top menu.
- Select Word count from the dropdown menu.
- A popup will appear showing the number of pages, words, characters, and characters excluding spaces.
- You can also press Ctrl + Shift + C (Windows) or Command + Shift + C (Mac) as a shortcut to open the word count window.
- To see the word count live as you type, check the box Display word count while typing in the popup. This will show a small word count box at the bottom left of the document
On Android or iOS Mobile Apps
- Open the Google Docs app and open your document.
- Tap the three-dot menu icon in the upper right corner.
- Tap Word count.
- The word count, character count, and characters excluding spaces will be displayed
Additional Tips
- You can check the word count for a selected portion of text by highlighting it first, then following the steps above. The popup will show the word count for the selection and the whole document.
- Word count excludes headers, footers, and footnotes.
- URLs and some long links may be counted as multiple words, which can increase the total word count
This method works across platforms and helps you monitor your document length easily.
