What this tool does
This counter shows the length of your text while you write it. Characters with and without spaces, words, sentences, lines, paragraphs and an estimated reading time all update with every keystroke, so there is no Count button to press.
It also answers questions a plain counter cannot. It shows the weighted length X (formerly Twitter) uses for its 280-character limit, where every link counts as 23 and many non-Latin characters count double, and the UTF-8 byte size that databases and form fields often limit.
Set a target, such as a 650-word college essay or a 160-character meta description, and a bar shows how much room is left or how far over you are.
How to use it
- Type in the box above, or paste text from a document, an email or a web page.
- Read the main numbers at the top: characters including spaces, characters without spaces, and words.
- Below them you will find sentences, lines, paragraphs and the reading time, followed by the UTF-8 byte count and the X post length.
- To write to a limit, choose a preset or enter your own target, then choose what to count: characters, characters without spaces, words, bytes or X length.
- If a form counts each line break as two characters, change “Line breaks count as” to match it. Use “Save counts” to keep a copy of the results as a text file.
How each number is counted
Characters are counted the way you see them: an emoji with a skin tone or a letter with an accent counts as one character, even when it is stored as several code points. Characters without spaces leave out spaces, tabs and line breaks.
A word is any run of characters between spaces that contains at least one letter or number, so a lone dash or bullet is not counted. Sentences are found with your browser's built-in language rules, which handle abbreviations such as “e.g.” better than counting periods. A paragraph is any line that contains text.
X post length and byte counts
X does not simply count characters. Most Latin letters, digits and punctuation weigh 1, while characters from many other scripts, such as Korean, Chinese and Japanese, weigh 2. Every emoji weighs 2, and every link counts as 23 no matter how long it is. The counter applies these rules, so you can tell before posting whether your text fits in 280.
UTF-8 is the encoding used by the web and most software. Plain English letters take one byte each, accented letters two, and most Asian characters three. Byte limits show up in database fields, text message gateways, file names and some APIs.
Your data
Your text is counted inside this browser tab and is never sent to a server. Once the page has loaded, the counter keeps working even if your connection drops. Your draft and settings are kept only in this browser's local storage, so they are still there after a reload, and the Clear button removes the draft.
Questions and answers
Do spaces and line breaks count as characters?
In “Characters” they do: each space counts as one, and each line break counts as one unless you change the line-break setting. “Characters without spaces” leaves out all spaces, tabs and line breaks.
Why does my count differ from another tool?
Tools disagree mainly on emoji and line breaks. Some count an emoji as two or more characters because of how it is stored, while this counter counts what you see. Some forms count a line break as two characters, and you can match that with the line-break setting.
How is reading time estimated?
It assumes an average silent reading speed of about 238 words per minute for English, or about 500 characters per minute for text that is mostly Korean, Chinese or Japanese. Reading aloud is slower, so allow extra time for a speech.
Is the X length exactly what X will show?
It follows the counting rules X publishes for character weights, emoji and links, so it should match for ordinary posts. X can change its rules, so leave a small margin when you are right at the limit.
Is there a limit on how much text I can paste?
There is no fixed limit. Documents of a few hundred thousand characters still work, although counting may take a moment on older phones.
