If you need to count the characters in your document, you can do so with the feature provided in Word. Let us explain in simple, step-wise instructions how you can do so.
3 ways to count characters in a word document:
- The whole document in Document Statistics
- The whole document in Proofing
- The selected portion in Proofing
Let us begin.
Method #1: Character Count for the whole document in Document Statistics
Step #1: Open the Word document.
Open the Word document where you want the number of characters.
Step #2: Open file Info
Click on the File tab in the top menu bar.
This opens the File dialog.
Click on the Info tab in the left pane.
Step #3: Open Advanced Properties
Click on Properties in the right pane to show the Advanced Properties tab.
This will open the Advanced Properties dialog box.
Step #4: Open the document statistics
Click on the Statistics tab.
Word shows the number of characters:
- Without spaces
- With spaces
Click on OK to exit the dialog box.
Method #2: Character Count for the whole document in Proofing
Step #1: Open the Word document.
Open the Word document where you want the number of characters.
Do not select anything if you want to count characters for the entire document.
Step #2: Show the number of characters
Click on the Review tab in the top menu bar to change the ribbon.
In the section Proofing, click on the Word Count icon.
This opens a window showing various statistics.
Word shows the number of characters:
- Without spaces
- With spaces
Click on the Close tab to return to your document.
Method #3: Character Count for the select portion in Proofing
Step #1: Open the Word document.
Open the Word document where you want the number of characters.
Step #2: Select a part of the document
Select the part of the document for which you want the number of characters.
Step #3: Show the number of characters
Click on the Review tab in the top menu bar to change the ribbon.
In the section Proofing, click on the Word Count icon.
This opens a window showing various statistics.
Word shows the number of characters:
- Without spaces
- With spaces
Click on the Close tab to return to your document.
Conclusion
We have shown you a simple method to get the character count for your Word document. You can also use it for getting the character count for a select portion.