How to Check Word Count on Mac, Notepad, Notion and Your Phone
2 min read
Short answer
Some apps show a word count in a menu, some only count characters, and several have no count at all. For the ones that do not, the fallback is the same everywhere: select the text, copy it and paste it into the word counter, which works in any browser on any device.
Mac
Pages: View → Show Word Count. The count appears at the bottom of the page; click it to switch to characters or paragraphs. Select text first to count just that part.
Apple Notes: no word count, on the Mac or on the iPhone. Copy the note into the word counter, or into Pages.
TextEdit: no word count either. Same fallback.
Microsoft Word for Mac: the count is in the status bar at the bottom of the window. ⌘ + Shift + G opens the full count.
Windows
Notepad: Windows 11 Notepad shows a character count in the status bar at the bottom, and the count for a selection when text is selected. It does not count words. If the status bar is hidden, turn it on from the View menu.
WordPad: removed from recent versions of Windows, and it never had a word count.
Microsoft Word: the word count is in the status bar. Ctrl + Shift + G opens the full count, including characters.
Notion
Click the ⋯ menu at the top right of the page and scroll to the bottom. The page’s word count is shown in grey. It counts the whole page — titles, headings, lists and toggles — and cannot count a selection or update as you type. To count one section, copy it into the word counter.
Chrome and other browsers
No browser has a built-in word count. To count text you are writing in a web form, or an article you are reading, copy it into the word counter. There are extensions that add a count, but they generally ask for permission to read every page you visit, which is a lot to hand over for a number you can get by pasting. How to count words on a web page covers the options.
Phones and tablets
Google Docs app (iPhone and Android): tap the ⋮ menu, then Word count.
Microsoft Word app: open the Review tab (on a phone, it is in the menu above the keyboard) and tap Word Count.
Pages on iPhone or iPad: tap the ⋯ menu and turn on Word Count. The count appears at the bottom of the screen.
Apple Notes, WhatsApp, email and everything else: select all, copy, and paste into the word counter in your phone’s browser. It works the same way on a phone as on a computer, and nothing is uploaded.
A word counter for writing, not just counting
If you want the count visible while you write, the writing workspace keeps a live word count, a word goal and your draft saved on your own device. To write against a clock, use the word counter with timer.
Frequently asked questions
Why does Notepad count characters but not words? It is what Microsoft added. Paste the text into a word counter for the word figure.
Is there a word count shortcut on Mac? In Word, ⌘ + Shift + G. In Google Docs, ⌘ + Shift + C. Pages has no default shortcut.
Do these apps all count the same way? For ordinary prose, very nearly. Small differences come from hyphenated words, numbers and footnotes.