PDF Word Counter
How to count words in a PDF
- Drop your PDF (or a Word, ODT, or text file) into the area above, or click to browse.
- Switch the mode toggle to words.
- Press the count button — your word count appears instantly. You can switch back to characters anytime; both are calculated at once.
FAQ
Are my files uploaded to a server?
No. All processing runs entirely in your browser. Your files are never sent to any server — we have no backend to receive them.
How are characters counted?
All characters are counted except line breaks. Spaces, punctuation, and special symbols are included. This matches the standard used in translation and publishing industries.
Can I count multiple files at once?
Yes. Select or drop several files at once — the tool will process each one and show results in a table. You can also export the results as a CSV file.
Why count characters instead of words?
In translation and publishing, pricing is often based on character count rather than word count — especially for languages like Russian, Japanese, or Chinese where word boundaries differ. Character count provides a more consistent and language-neutral metric.
What file formats are supported?
.pdf — any PDF with selectable text; .docx, .docm — Microsoft Word (Office 2007+); .doc — Microsoft Word (Office 97–2003), partially supported.
Why does my .doc file show 0 characters?
Old .doc files (Office 97–2003) are partially supported. If the file is password-protected or uses a rare encoding, extraction may fail silently. Try saving it as .docx in Microsoft Word first.
Why is my PDF word count different from Word?
PDF files store text differently from Word documents. Word counts from its internal format, while PDF text is extracted from rendered content — this may include headers, footers, and footnotes that Word tracks separately. Small differences are normal.
Can I count words in a scanned PDF?
Not currently. Scanned PDFs are images — there is no selectable text to extract. Run OCR (optical character recognition) first to convert the scan to text. Adobe Acrobat or free online OCR tools can help.
Is there a file size limit?
No. Since all processing runs in your browser, there is no server-side size limit. Very large files may take longer depending on your device's memory.
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