Live Character Count
See the total number of characters update instantly as you type, paste, delete, or edit your text.
Free Online Writing Tool
Free Character Counter
Count characters with and without spaces for forms, captions, and short text.
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Characters
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Characters Without Spaces
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Words
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Sentences
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Paragraphs
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Reading Time
What Is a Character Counter?
A character counter shows the total number of characters in a piece of text. Characters can include letters, numbers, punctuation marks, symbols, and spaces.
This free character counter calculates your text in real time while you type. You can see both the total character count and the character count without spaces.
The tool also displays your word count, sentence count, paragraph count, and estimated reading time, so you can review several important writing statistics in one place.
More Than a Simple Character Count
Check important text statistics instantly without creating an account or uploading your writing.
Count Without Spaces
Compare your complete character count with the number of characters after whitespace is excluded.
Private by Design
Your text is processed directly in your browser by JavaScript and is not uploaded by the counter.
How to Count Characters Online
Paste your text into the editor above or start typing directly inside the text box.
The character counter updates automatically. No calculate button is required.
The first statistic shows the total number of characters in your text. The second statistic shows the number of characters without whitespace.
You can also use the additional statistics to check your words, sentences, paragraphs, and estimated reading time.
When you finish, use Copy Text to copy your content, Clear to reset the editor, Undo to restore recently cleared text, or Download .txt to save a plain-text copy.
Character Count vs. Word Count
Character count and word count measure different parts of your writing.
Character Count
Measures individual letters, numbers, punctuation marks, symbols, and other characters in your text.
Characters Without Spaces
Shows the number of characters after whitespace has been removed from the count.
Word Count
Measures the number of words in your writing instead of counting each individual character.
When Is a Character Counter Useful?
Character limits are common in online forms, social media posts, metadata, application forms, short descriptions, advertisements, usernames, titles, and many other digital platforms.
Instead of manually estimating the length of your text, you can paste it into this tool and see the current character total immediately.
Writers can also use character counting alongside word and sentence statistics when editing short-form content or working within strict text requirements.
Character Counter FAQs
Common questions about counting characters, spaces, and words.
What counts as a character?
Characters can include letters, numbers, punctuation marks, symbols, spaces, and other text characters.
Does the character count include spaces?
Yes. The Characters statistic includes spaces. The tool also provides a separate Characters Without Spaces statistic.
How do I count characters without spaces?
Paste or type your content into the editor. The Characters Without Spaces statistic automatically removes whitespace from that count.
Does this tool also count words?
Yes. The tool displays words, characters, characters without spaces, sentences, paragraphs, and estimated reading time.
Do I need to click a button to count characters?
No. Character and word statistics update automatically as you type or edit your text.
Is this character counter free?
Yes. You can use the character counter without creating an account.
Does this character counter save my text?
The counter performs its calculations in your browser. Text entered into the tool is not uploaded by the character-counting functionality.
Can I download my text?
Yes. Use the Download .txt button to save the current text as a plain text file.
Spaces, Line Breaks, and Emoji
The total includes spaces, tabs, and line breaks. The count without spaces removes all whitespace, including tabs and line breaks.
This counter measures Unicode code points. For example, A B has 3 characters, or 2 without spaces. Some emoji and accented letters contain multiple code points even when they look like one character.
A form or social platform may use a different counting rule. Use its own counter to confirm a strict character limit.