How Can I Find the Number of Words in My Google Docs Document?

Certain places where you need to submit documents will require those documents to reach a certain threshold. This could be a minimum number of pages, or it might be a minimum (or sometimes, maximum) number of words. Luckily many word processing applications, including Google Docs, have a tool that can quickly provide you with this information.

Our tutorial below will show you where to find the word count tool in Google Docs. The screen that provides you with the number of words in your document will also tell you other information about the document that you might like to know as well. We will also show you a keyboard shortcut that can help you get to the word count tool even faster.

 

How to Get a Word Count in Google Docs

The steps in this article were performed in the desktop version of the Google Chrome Web browser, but will also work in other desktop Web browsers like Firefox or Internet Explorer.

Step 1: Sign into your Google Drive account and open the Google Docs file for which you want to get a word count.

 

Step 2: Click the Tools tab at the top of the window.

find the word count tool in google docs

 

 

Step 3: Select the Word count option.

how to count the number of words in google docs

 

 

Step 4: Locate the number of words in the document next to the Words row on this table. Note that you can also see the number of pages, characters, and characters without spaces.

how to get a word count in google docs

 

 

You can also get a word count for your document at any time by pressing Ctrl + Shift + C on your keyboard.

 

Are you working on a document for school or work, and you need to include some information in the header? Find out how to add your last name and a page number to the top-right of the page if that is something that is being asked of you for formatting your document before submitting it.