Guides and answers
Short, specific answers to the questions writers search for — with the calculator built into the page so you can check your own numbers.
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Latest
Google Docs Word Count: Shortcut, Live Counter and Mobile Steps
How to see the word count in Google Docs on a computer, Android, iPhone and iPad, keep it on screen while you type, and count just a selection.
October 4, 2026
How Many Pages Is 10,000 Words?
10,000 words is 20 pages single spaced or 40 pages double spaced. It is the classic undergraduate dissertation length; here is how to plan it.
October 4, 2026
How Many Pages Is 1,200 Words?
1,200 words is 2.4 pages single spaced or 4.8 pages double spaced. A common essay and report length; here is how to plan it.
October 4, 2026
How Many Pages Is 250 Words?
250 words is half a page single spaced or one page double spaced. It is the length of an IELTS essay, an abstract and most short-answer questions.
October 4, 2026
How Many Pages Is 2,500 Words?
2,500 words is 5 pages single spaced or 10 pages double spaced. The length of a substantial coursework essay, a long-form article or a short story.
October 4, 2026
How Many Pages Is 300 Words?
300 words is just over half a page single spaced or 1.2 pages double spaced. What 300 words is used for, and whether it is enough for a blog post.
October 4, 2026
How Many Pages Is 3,000 Words?
3,000 words is 6 pages single spaced or 12 pages double spaced. A typical final-year essay, project report or dissertation proposal.
October 4, 2026
How Many Pages Is 400 Words?
400 words is 0.8 pages single spaced or 1.6 pages double spaced. It is the classic cover letter length; here is how to make the most of it.
October 4, 2026
How Many Pages Is 4,000 Words?
4,000 words is 8 pages single spaced or 16 pages double spaced. It is the IB Extended Essay limit; here is how to plan to it.
October 4, 2026
How Many Pages Is 5,000 Words?
5,000 words is 10 pages single spaced or 20 pages double spaced. The length of a dissertation chapter, a long essay or a short story competition entry.
October 4, 2026
How Many Pages Is 600 Words?
600 words is 1.2 pages single spaced or 2.4 pages double spaced. It is close to the Common App essay limit and a typical op-ed length.
October 4, 2026
How Many Pages Is 750 Words?
750 words is 1.5 pages single spaced or 3 pages double spaced. A common essay assignment, and the length of the 'three pages a day' writing habit.
October 4, 2026
How Many Pages Is 800 Words?
800 words is 1.6 pages single spaced or 3.2 pages double spaced. The length of a newspaper column, a feature blog post or a short story scene.
October 4, 2026
How Many Words Is a 1 Minute Speech?
A 1 minute speech is about 150 words at a natural pace. How to use 60 seconds well for an elevator pitch, an introduction or a video.
October 4, 2026
How Many Words Is a 2 Minute Speech?
A 2 minute speech is about 300 words at a natural pace. How to plan a toast, an acceptance speech or a short presentation to fit.
October 4, 2026
How Many Words Is a 20 Minute Speech?
A 20 minute speech is about 3,000 words at a natural pace. How to plan a conference talk or keynote of that length, and keep the room with you.
October 4, 2026
How Many Words Is a 3 Minute Speech?
A 3 minute speech is about 450 words at a natural pace. How to plan three minutes, from a class talk to a research pitch with one slide.
October 4, 2026
How Long Is a Personal Statement?
The UCAS personal statement is 4,000 characters across three questions, with at least 350 in each. The Common App essay is 250 to 650 words. How to check both.
September 27, 2026
How Many Pages Is 500 Words?
500 words is 1 page single spaced or 2 pages double spaced in 12pt type. The breakdown by spacing and font, and how long a 500-word essay takes to write.
September 27, 2026
How Many Words Is 500 Characters?
500 characters is about 80 to 90 words. Convert any character count to words, and words to characters, with a table from 100 to 5,000 characters.
September 27, 2026
How to Check Word Count on Mac, Notepad, Notion and Your Phone
Where to find the word count in Apple Pages, Notes, TextEdit, Windows Notepad, Notion, Chrome and the Word and Google Docs phone apps — and what to do when there is none.
September 27, 2026
How to Count Characters in Word and Google Docs
Where to find the character count in Microsoft Word and Google Docs, with and without spaces, plus the keyboard shortcuts and how to count a selection.
September 27, 2026
How to Count Words in a PDF
Adobe Reader has no word count. Five ways to count the words in a PDF — a PDF word counter, copy and paste, Word, Google Docs or Acrobat — and what to do with a scan.
September 27, 2026
Word Count in Arabic, Hindi, Urdu, Korean and Other Languages
How word counting works in Arabic, Urdu, Hindi, Filipino, Korean, Thai, Chinese and Japanese — which languages count by spaces, which by character, and how to check.
September 27, 2026
How to Count Words on a Web Page
Three ways to find the word count of a web page or article: select and paste, reader mode for just the article, and a one-line browser console snippet.
September 27, 2026
How to Increase Word Count Without Adding Fluff
Eight ways to add genuine substance when an essay or article is short, and the padding tactics that markers and editors spot immediately.
July 15, 2026
How Long Should a Meta Description Be?
Around 150 to 160 characters, and Google truncates by pixel width rather than character count. Here are the working limits for titles and descriptions, and what to do with them.
July 1, 2026
How to Count Words in Google Docs, Word and Pages
The keyboard shortcut and menu path for word count in Google Docs, Microsoft Word, Apple Pages and a browser — plus why the three sometimes disagree.
June 17, 2026
Average Words Per Sentence
The average sentence in modern English prose runs 15 to 20 words. Here are the figures by type of writing, why the average matters less than the variation, and how to measure your own.
May 20, 2026
How Long Should a Paragraph Be?
Three to five sentences — roughly 40 to 120 words — for most writing, and shorter online. Here are the lengths by context and how to break up a paragraph that has grown too long.
May 6, 2026
What Is a Good Readability Score?
A Flesch Reading Ease score of 60 to 70 suits most writing for a general audience. Here is what the bands mean, what a good score is for your audience, and how to raise one honestly.
April 22, 2026
How to Reduce Word Count in an Essay
A practical order for cutting an essay to length — structural cuts first, phrase-level cuts last — with the phrases that are always safe to delete.
March 10, 2026
Character Count vs Word Count
When to measure text in characters and when to measure in words, plus a conversion table and the limits that matter on each platform.
March 6, 2026
What Is Keyword Density?
Keyword density is how often a term appears as a share of total words. Here is how to calculate it, what counts as good, and why it is no longer a target.
March 2, 2026
How Many Words Should an Essay Be?
Essay lengths by level, from 500-word school essays to 5,000-word dissertations — plus how much over or under the limit you can safely go.
February 22, 2026
How Many Words Should a Blog Post Be?
Most blog posts should be 1,000 to 2,000 words — but the right length depends entirely on the question you are answering. Here is how to decide.
February 20, 2026
Average Reading Speed
The average adult reads 238 words per minute silently and about 183 words per minute aloud. Here are the figures by age, material and purpose.
February 14, 2026
How Long Does It Take to Read 2,000 Words?
2,000 words takes about 8 minutes 24 seconds to read at an average adult speed of 238 words per minute. Here is why the second thousand is harder.
February 12, 2026
How Long Does It Take to Read 1,000 Words?
1,000 words takes about 4 minutes to read silently at an average adult reading speed of 238 words per minute. Here is what changes that.
February 10, 2026
How Many Pages Is 2,000 Words?
2,000 words is 4 pages single spaced or 8 pages double spaced in 12pt type. Here is what that length demands, and what it means for your reader.
February 6, 2026
How Many Pages Is 1,500 Words?
1,500 words is 3 pages single spaced or 6 pages double spaced in 12pt type — and it is the most common undergraduate essay length. Here is how to plan it.
February 4, 2026
How Many Pages Is 1,000 Words?
1,000 words is 2 pages single spaced or 4 pages double spaced in 12pt type. Here is the full breakdown by font, size and spacing.
February 2, 2026
Average Speaking Speed
The average speaking speed is 130 to 150 words per minute for presentations, and faster in conversation. Here is what the ranges mean for your script.
January 20, 2026
How Many Words Is a 15 Minute Speech?
A 15 minute speech is about 2,250 words at a natural pace. Here is how to structure that length and what to cut when the slot includes questions.
January 16, 2026
How Many Words Is a 10 Minute Speech?
A 10 minute speech is about 1,500 words at a natural pace. Here is how to structure that length, and why most people write 300 words too many.
January 14, 2026
How Many Words Is a 5 Minute Speech?
A 5 minute speech is about 750 words at a natural speaking pace. Here is the full range, why it varies, and how to check your own script.
January 12, 2026
Check your own writing
Paste your text into the editor for its word count, reading time, reading level and the words you lean on most.
Open the word counter