How to Count Characters in Microsoft Word

Word Count is a feature in Microsoft Word that allows you to count the characters in a document. In addition, MS Word displays the total number of Words, pages, paragraphs, and lines. In Microsoft Word, you can quickly determine the current character count.

You may need to ensure that your document has a certain number of characters. Microsoft Word allows you to keep track of your character count in two ways:

1. In the bottom status bar of the Word document and
2. In the Ribbon menu's Review tab.

The Microsoft Word character count isn't often needed, but it's simple to find on the Ribbon menu's Review tab.

Where is Character Count in Word?

In Microsoft Word, you can find the character count by selecting the Word Count option from the Review tab in the Proofing group. It will display the number of characters in your document (with or without spaces).

How to do a Character Count in Word for Windows

You can count characters in Word for an entire document or just a section of text.

Get the Character Count of an Entire Document.

The word count at the bottom to the left of the status bar is the quickest way to get the character count of your entire document. This is how.

1. In your document's status bar, click the word count.
2. Check the number of characters next to Characters (no spaces) and Characters in the Word Count dialogue box (with spaces).

Or, Select the "Review" tab from the Ribbon menu. Then, in the Proofing group, choose "Word Count" to see the character count.

The Word Count dialogue box appears. The number of characters can be found next to Characters (with spaces or without spaces).

Get the Character Count of a Specific Section of a Document

You can also get the character count of a section of a Word document. It comes in handy when you need to keep the entire Word document under a certain character count. However, I believe you're being overly wordy in one section of your document.

To get the character count, simply click and drag your mouse over the text to highlight the section of text.

When the selected text is highlighted, click the word count in the status bar to see the character count.

Alternatively, highlight the text for which you want to see the character count and select "Word Count" from the "Review" tab. Look at the number next to Characters in the Word Count dialogue box.

How to do a Character Count in Word for Mac

On a Mac, you can also count the characters in Word of an entire document (or a portion of one). This is how.

Get the Character Count of an Entire Document

Click the word count in the status bar at the bottom to get the character count for your entire document. The word count dialogue box displays the overall statistics of a Word document, including the number of characters.

Alternatively, go to the top menu and select "Tools." Then, from the list, choose "Word Count" to determine the character count of an entire document.

The number of characters appears next to the Characters.

Get the Character Count of a Specific Section of a Document

You can also check the character count of a section of a document in Word for Mac. To do so, select the text to be counted by clicking and dragging your mouse pointer over it. Then, in the status bar, click the word count to see how many characters are in the selected text.

Alternatively, open the Word Count dialogue box by selecting Tools> Word Count and then inspect the number next to Characters.

The ability to check the character count in Microsoft Word isn't the only one. Check the pages, paragraphs, and lines as well.

Get a Character Count in Word with a Single Click

The Word Count tool in Word can be easily added to the Quick Access toolbar, which is the row of icons in the upper left corner of the title bar.

After you've added it, you can select the icon to get a character count without having to go to the Review tab of the Ribbon menu.

In Word for Windows:

1. Right-click on the "Word Count" option and select the "Review" tab from the Ribbon menu.
2. A pop-up menu will appear, from which you can choose "Add to Quick Access Toolbar."Right-click on Word Count to add it to the Quick Access Toolbar.

In Word for Mac:

1. In the Word menu, click the drop-down arrow to the right of the Quick Access Toolbar.
2. Choose "More Commands."
3. Select the Quick Access Toolbar tab from the Ribbon & Toolbar window.
4. Select "Review Tab" under Choose commands from.
5. Then scroll all the way to the bottom. Click the right arrow to add "Word Count" to the Customize Quick Access Toolbar list.
6. To confirm, click "Save."Open the Ribbon & Toolbar window to add Word count to the Quick Access Toolbar on Mac.

My name is Lincoln Edward, I am a Microsoft Office expert and a full-time blogger with 5 years of experience in the technology industry. I have written technical blogs, white papers, and reviews for a variety of websites.