How to Check Word Count in Microsoft Word

To check word count in Microsoft Word, look at the status bar along the bottom of your document. Select a passage to count just that text, or click the count to see more statistics. Before using the number for an assignment, make sure you are counting the sections your instructor actually requires.

How to find word count on Windows or Mac

On desktop Word, click the word total in the status bar to open the Word Count box. It also reports information such as characters, paragraphs and lines. On Mac, Tools → Word Count is another route. Highlighting text changes the count to that selection; the status bar can show both the selected amount and the document total. See Microsoft’s word-count instructions.

If the count is missing in Windows, right-click the status bar and enable Word Count. Microsoft documents that setting in its instructions for counting text after sending presentation handouts to Word. You are looking for the bar at the bottom of the editing window, not the Windows taskbar.

How to check Word for the web

Open the document in Editing view. Use Review → Word Count and enable Show Word Count if the bottom-of-window number is hidden. The count updates while you type. These controls are covered in the same Microsoft guide.

For a deadline-sensitive submission, keep the final check in the same app and file version you will submit. A browser tab and a downloaded attachment can look similar while containing different edits. Compare the opening sentence and final paragraph before comparing their totals.

What about Word on a phone or tablet?

Microsoft lists word count as supported in Word for iPhone and in its Android and iOS feature comparison. Open the document’s editing controls and look under Review for Word Count. Phone and tablet ribbon layouts vary, so the route may involve expanding the toolbar or switching from the Home tab first.

Use a mobile check to answer a quick question such as whether another paragraph is needed. If the document contains notes or complex sections and the inclusion controls are unavailable, finish the submission check on desktop Word rather than guessing what the mobile total covers.

Check what the total includes

In desktop Word’s count dialog, inspect the note-inclusion checkbox. Windows labels it Include textboxes, footnotes and endnotes; Mac offers an option for footnotes and endnotes. Bond University’s Word assignment guidance describes these platform-specific settings. Choose according to your instructions, rather than assuming the existing checkbox state is correct.

A reference list typed as ordinary paragraphs is different from an actual Word endnote. Excluding endnotes should not be treated as a command to remove every bibliography entry from the count. If the brief excludes references, select the required body text separately and inspect its boundaries. Keep any required headings inside that selection.

Similarly, a number from Word does not establish whether quotations, captions, tables or an abstract belong in an assignment’s limit. Read the brief for each category. If it simply says “2,000 words” without explaining exclusions, ask the instructor before cutting substantive work to solve an uncertainty about counting.

A worked example: count only the required essay

Imagine a hypothetical assignment with a 1,500-word maximum. Its written instructions include the essay headings and quotations but exclude the cover page, reference list and footnotes. Your file contains all those sections. Here is a repeatable way to check it without dismantling the submission.

1. Define the boundaries. Identify the first included heading and the last sentence before the reference list. Write down the rule in a separate working note: “Essay body and headings; no cover, references or footnotes.” This prevents you from accidentally using a different definition after revisions.

2. Measure the required text. Select that span, inspect both ends of the highlight, and use the count dialog. Set the footnote option consistently with the brief. In this invented example, the eligible selection reports 1,472 words. That leaves 28 words before the maximum: 1,500 minus 1,472.

3. Recheck after editing. Suppose you replace a 64-word paragraph with a 92-word version. The net addition is 28 words, bringing the example to exactly 1,500. Count the actual revised selection again rather than trusting the arithmetic alone, because another heading or sentence may also have changed.

4. Record and preserve the final result. Save the finished file and make any requested word-count declaration only after the last edit. If you keep a private screenshot of the dialog, include enough context to identify the version. Do not add that screenshot to the assignment unless requested.

Why two counts might disagree

Before troubleshooting the software, check the scope: is one number for selected text and the other for the whole document? Next check the file, the inclusion settings and the assignment rules. Do not paste confidential work into an unfamiliar online counter just to obtain a second number.

If tracked edits remain, preserve a copy before resolving them. Turning tracking off does not remove earlier revisions, as Microsoft’s Track Changes guidance explains. Decide which revisions belong in the final submission instead of assuming a visually clean page means the editing history is settled.

For a strict limit, measure with Word’s built-in feature rather than asking a chatbot to estimate. Microsoft itself advises using Word Count for exact counts in its Copilot limitations guidance. If the submission portal uses a different method, follow the course’s stated policy and leave a small buffer when possible.

Optional desk reference

The built-in counter needs no extra purchase. If you prefer a printed guide for other Word tasks, browse Microsoft Word guides on Amazon and match the book’s edition to the app you use.