Markdown Tools › Word count and reading time
Markdown word count and reading time
Word limits are common: essays, chapters, blog posts and book proposals all have them. This counter gives you the main numbers for any text you paste, including Markdown.
It reports words, characters with and without spaces, sentences, paragraphs and an estimated reading time. A word is a run of letters and digits, and apostrophes or hyphens inside a word do not split it, so "it's" and "well-known" each count once. Markdown symbols such as # and ** are not counted as words.
Reading time uses 230 words per minute, a typical rate for silent reading of general prose. Technical text and unfamiliar subjects are read more slowly. If you need a count per chapter, use the chapter word count tool in the book tools.
How to use it
- Paste or type your text.
- Read the counts.
- Use the chapter tool for a per-chapter breakdown.
Worked example
That text has 6 words and 2 sentences.
Questions
- How are words counted?
- As runs of letters and digits. Hyphenated and apostrophe words count once.
- Do Markdown symbols count?
- No.
- How is reading time worked out?
- Words divided by 230 words per minute.
- Is my text uploaded?
- No. Counting happens in your browser.
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