Essay Word Counter

The number that matters is the one your school or university uses, and most of them count the body of the essay only. Before pasting, leave out:

• The title and title page. Excluded almost everywhere.
• The reference list or bibliography. Excluded almost everywhere.
• Appendices. Usually excluded, and often not marked either.

In-text citations, headings and quotations are usually included. Footnotes and tables vary more than anything else, so if your essay leans on either, check the brief.

If the brief is set in pages, convert it with the pages to words calculator and write to the number. Our guide to how many words an essay should be covers lengths by level and how to budget words across sections.

Over the limit, cut structure before sentences: a paragraph that repeats an earlier point, an introduction that takes three sentences to reach the question, a quotation longer than your comment on it. The longest sentences panel above is a good place to start, and there are more ideas in how to reduce word count.

Under the limit, add substance rather than filler: the strongest objection to your argument and your answer to it, a second piece of evidence, or a concrete example where the essay is abstract. How to increase word count without fluff goes through each.