Document Word Counter
Count the words and characters in PDF, Word (.docx), TXT and Markdown files — many at once, entirely in your browser.
Drag & drop documents here, or click to browse
PDF, Word (.docx), TXT and Markdown. No uploads — your files stay on your device.
- Documents
- 0
- Total words
- 0
- Total characters
- 0
- Reading time
- 0 min
| Document | Words | Characters | Reading time |
|---|
How it works
Drop one document or a whole pile of them and every word is counted right here in your
browser. PDFs are read with PDF.js, Word .docx files are unzipped and their
document text pulled out with JSZip, and plain .txt or Markdown files are read
as-is. Nothing is uploaded, so dissertations, contracts, manuscripts and client reports never
leave your device.
Words are split on whitespace, the same way Word and Google Docs count them, so the numbers line up with the count in your word processor. Each file gets its own row, the totals across every document are shown at the top, and reading time is estimated at 225 words per minute. Copy the summary to the clipboard or download it as a CSV for a submission log. Scanned PDFs hold pictures of text rather than real characters, so they count as zero words — the tool says so instead of quietly reporting nothing.
Frequently asked questions
How do I count the words in a PDF without uploading it?
Drop the PDF onto this page. It is read with PDF.js inside your own browser tab, so the file is never sent to a server — there is no upload, no account and no size limit imposed by a host. The word count, character count and estimated reading time appear straight away, and you can drop several documents at once to get a per-file breakdown plus a combined total. Because nothing leaves your device it is safe for contracts, theses, manuscripts and client work.
Will the count match the one in Microsoft Word or Google Docs?
For plain prose, yes. Words are split on whitespace, which is the same rule Word and Google Docs use, so a run of text gives an identical number. Small differences can appear at the edges: a hyphenated term such as "state-of-the-art" counts as one word in both, but a PDF that breaks a word across a line may count the two halves separately because the line break is baked into the file. Word also counts text in headers, footers, footnotes and text boxes depending on your settings, while this tool counts the main document body of a .docx.
Why does my scanned PDF show zero words?
A scanned PDF contains a picture of a page rather than real characters, so there is nothing to count — the tool tells you this instead of reporting a silent zero. To count the words in a scan you first need OCR (optical character recognition), which turns the image of the text into actual text. A quick way to check: open the PDF in any reader and try to select a word with your mouse. If nothing highlights, it is a scan and it needs OCR first.