Character counter
Type or paste your text and see the number of characters straight away, with words, lines, sentences, paragraphs and reading time next to it. The counting happens in your browser and nothing is uploaded.
- Characters (with spaces)
- 0
- Characters without spaces
- 0
- Words
- 0
- Lines
- 0
- Sentences
- 0
- Paragraphs
- 0
- Reading time
- 0
- Speaking time
- 0
How it works
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Paste your text
Type or paste your text in the box, or open a .txt file.
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Counted straight away
Characters, words, lines, sentences and paragraphs are counted as you type.
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Read the result
The estimated reading and speaking time are shown too.
What is counted
The large number is the count of characters including spaces. Underneath you also get the size in bytes, the number of words (and how many are different), lines, sentences, paragraphs, and the reading and speaking time (at 230 and 130 words per minute).
Characters are counted the way you see them: é and an emoji such as 👍🏽 count as one, even though they take several bytes.
Common limits
| Where | Limit |
|---|---|
| A post on X (Twitter) | 280 characters |
| Text message (SMS) | 160 characters |
| Search result title (guideline) | about 60 characters |
| Search result description (guideline) | about 155 to 160 characters |
These limits count characters, with spaces. Platforms differ in how they count emoji and links, so keep a margin.
Related counters
Need the count without spaces? Use character count without spaces. For words, see the word counter; for lines, the line counter. To count one specific letter, there is count specific characters.
Frequently asked questions
Why is the byte count higher than the character count?
Characters are counted the way you see them, but text is stored as UTF-8 bytes. Plain letters take one byte, accented letters two, and an emoji four or more. In the example above, 67 characters take 75 bytes.
Does an emoji count as one character?
Yes. `é` and an emoji such as 👍🏽 count as one each, even though they are made of several code points and bytes.
Are line breaks counted?
Yes, each line break counts as one character in the total with spaces. In the count without spaces, line breaks and tabs are not counted.
Can I open a text file?
Yes. Use *Open file* or drop a text file onto the box. The file is read in your browser and not uploaded.