If you’re looking to check the word count of your article, we’re here to guide you with it! In this article, we will have covered several ways you could check the word count on Google Docs, so keep reading!
What is Counted?
Before you proceed, it is worth remembering that the Word Count tool does not count the words present in the headers, footers, and footnotes. Similarly, the counter excludes symbols and special characters such as commas, hyphens, and exclamation marks. If you’ve added a URL in your document, the counter may take only a few words into consideration while rejecting the rest of the content.
How to Check Word Count in Google Docs on PC?
Google Docs allows you to check the word count of either the entire document or even a particular section in the document through the Word Count tool. To check the word count of a certain section from the document, simply select the section from the document. The steps from there are the same as checking the word count of the entire document.
From the Menu Bar
The menu bar hosts almost all tools you could use in your document. You can swiftly check the word count of a document from the menu bar of Google Docs. Refer to these steps to check the word count from the menu bar:
Use a Shortcut
If you find using shortcuts more convenient, you could use a keyboard shortcut to view the word count of your document on Google Docs. To open the Word Count window, hit the following keyboard combination: Ctrl + Shift + C
How to Check Word Count in Google Docs on Mobile Application?
You can also check the word count of your document on the mobile application of Google Docs. Google Docs is available for download in both Play Store (Android) and App Store (iOS/iPadOS). If you wish to check the word count on the mobile application version of Google Docs, follow these steps: Google Docs will display the total number of words, characters, and characters excluding spaces.
How to Check Word Count While Typing?
Do you constantly check the number of words in your document? If that’s the case, repeating the methods mentioned above every time can be quite tedious. You can enable a pop-up that displays the word count of your document while you’re typing. Here are the steps to display the word count pop-up on an open Google Docs document: A small rectangle pop-up will appear on the bottom-left corner of your screen. Google Docs updates the word count as you type in that pop-up.
How to Include Footnotes in Word Count Google Docs?
Unfortunately, Google Docs currently does not have the feature to count footnotes while counting the total number of words in a document. You might want to manually count the number of words present in the footnotes and add it to the word count.
Why is My Counter Showing Fewer Words?
Google Docs does not count the words in the header, footer, and footnotes. The processor views such words as sidenotes and not an actual part of the document. Similarly, your word count may appear low as Google Docs does not take special characters and symbols into account while displaying the word count.
