Word Counter Chrome Extension

A word counter that lives in your browser toolbar instead of a tab. Select any text on any web page and the count appears next to it, with characters, sentences, paragraphs and reading time one click away. There is no account to create, no limit on how much you count, and no ads inside the extension.

It runs the same counting engine as Counter Words, rule for rule. That matters more than it sounds: most word counters disagree with each other about hyphenated words, contractions, numbers and URLs, so the same paragraph gets three different totals from three different tools. Here, the extension and the website will always give you the same number, and all sixteen rules that produce it are yours to change.

Nothing you count is uploaded. The extension has no server behind it, which is why it keeps working when you disconnect from the internet, and why we could not hand over your text even if somebody asked us for it.

What the word counter extension does

Six things it does well, rather than thirty it does badly.

Count any text you select

Highlight text on any web page and a small badge shows the word count straight away. Click it for characters, sentences, paragraphs, reading time and repeated phrases. No copying, no switching tabs.

Count a whole page at once

Open the toolbar popup and count everything on the page. Useful for checking how long an article really is, sizing up a competitor post you want to outrank, or measuring a draft in a web editor.

Nothing is ever uploaded

All counting happens inside your browser. The extension has no server to talk to, so your text is never transmitted, stored or logged. It keeps working with the network disconnected, which is the simplest proof of that.

The same sixteen count rules

Numbers, hyphenated words, contractions, URLs, emails, headings, footnotes, references: choose how each one is treated. Every setting lives in the popup, so you never leave the page to change one.

A working answer for Google Docs

Editors like Google Docs draw text onto a canvas, where no extension can read a selection. Copy your text and press Count copied text instead. One extra keystroke, and an honest limitation rather than a silent zero.

Hands off to the full analyzer

Need the deeper view? Send your selection to the full analyzer on this site in one click. The text travels in the URL fragment, the part after the hash, which browsers never send to any server.

How to count words on any web page

Three steps, about a minute in total.

Install it from the Chrome Web Store

Open the listing and choose Add to Chrome. It installs in a few seconds and asks for no account, no email address and no payment.
Select text on any page

Highlight a sentence, a paragraph or a whole article. A small badge appears beside your selection with the live word count.
Open the details for the full breakdown

Click the badge for characters, sentences, paragraphs, reading time, speaking time and your most repeated words and phrases. The panel stays open until you close it.

Install the extension

Your text never leaves your browser

Most browser extensions that touch your text could send it somewhere. This one has nowhere to send it to. There is no backend server, no analytics inside the extension, and no third party script bundled with it.

That is a property of how it is built rather than a promise about how we behave. You can check it yourself: turn off your internet connection, select some text, and watch the count still appear. Nothing that needed a network could do that.

Even the handoff to the full analyzer on this site respects it. Your selection travels in the URL fragment, the part after the hash symbol, which browsers are specified never to transmit to a server. The text reaches the page you are looking at without ever reaching us.

Where a word count extension actually helps

Anywhere you write in a browser and something is counting.

WordPress and other CMS editors Check a post against a target length while you write it, without installing a plugin.
Gmail and Outlook on the web Keep a cold email or a newsletter within the length that actually gets read.
LinkedIn, X and Facebook Character limits are unforgiving. See the count before you post, not after it truncates.
Upwork, Fiverr and job boards Proposals and cover letters usually carry a word ceiling. Count it inside the box you are typing into.
University portals and submission forms Confirm an assignment is inside the limit in the same window you are about to submit from.
Any article you are reading Select the body text to see how long a piece really is, and roughly how many minutes it will take.

Extension or website: which should you use?

Both, honestly. They are built for different moments.

Feature comparison between the Chrome extension and the CounterWords website
What you want	Extension	Website
Count without leaving the page	Yes	No
Words, characters, sentences, reading time	Yes	Yes
Sixteen configurable count rules	Yes	Yes
Repeated words and phrases	Top results	Full analysis
Sentence and paragraph length patterns	No	Yes
Save an analysis and revisit it	No	With a free account
Editing a long document	Quick checks	Better
Text stays in your browser	Yes	Yes

The extension is for the quick check in the middle of something else. For the deeper read, use the full word counter and text analyzer.

Questions about the Chrome extension

Is the word counter Chrome extension free?

Yes, completely. There is no paid tier, no trial that expires, no account to create and no card to enter. It is free because the website it comes from is supported by advertising, and the extension itself carries no ads at all.

How do I count words on a web page in Chrome?

Install the extension, then highlight the text you want to count. A badge appears beside your selection showing the word count immediately. Click it for characters, sentences, paragraphs, reading time and repeated phrases. To count an entire page rather than a selection, open the extension from the toolbar and let it read the page.

Does it work in Google Docs?

Partly, and we would rather say so plainly. Google Docs renders your document onto a canvas element, so no browser extension can read your selection there directly. Copy the text you want to count and use the Count copied text button in the popup. Everywhere that uses ordinary web text, which is almost everywhere else, selection counting works normally.

Does the extension send my text anywhere?

No. Counting runs entirely in your browser using the same JavaScript engine that powers this website. The extension has no backend server, so there is nowhere for text to be sent. Disconnect from the internet and it still counts. When you choose to open a selection in the full analyzer, the text travels in the URL fragment, the part after the hash, which browsers never transmit to any server.

Why does the extension ask for permissions?

It asks for the minimum needed to do the job. Access to the active tab, only when you use it, so it can read the text you selected. Storage, so your count rules persist between sessions, saved on your own device. Clipboard read, only when you press the Count copied text button. It never asks for your browsing history, your bookmarks, or background access to sites.

Will the extension and the website ever disagree on a count?

No, and that is deliberate. Both run a byte for byte identical copy of the counting engine, with the same sixteen configurable rules and the same defaults. Count a paragraph in the extension, paste it into the website, and the totals match.

Does it work in Edge, Brave or Opera?

Yes. Microsoft Edge, Brave, Opera, Vivaldi and Arc are all built on Chromium and can install extensions from the Chrome Web Store. The install prompt looks slightly different in each, but the extension behaves the same. Safari and Firefox use a different extension format and are not supported yet.

How does it count hyphenated words and contractions?

By default it follows the conventions Microsoft Word uses, because that is what most people are checked against. A hyphenated compound such as mother-in-law counts as one word, and a contraction such as do not in its shortened form counts as one word. Both behaviours are switchable in the popup settings if your style guide says otherwise.

Do I need an account to use the extension?

No. The extension works the moment it is installed, with no sign-in. An account on this website is entirely optional and exists only if you want to save analyses and come back to them later.

How do I remove it?

Right click the extension icon in the Chrome toolbar and choose Remove from Chrome, or open the extensions page and remove it there. Your saved count rules live on your device and go with it. Nothing of yours is left behind on a server, because nothing of yours was ever on one.

Add the word counter to Chrome

Free, no account, no ads, and nothing of yours ever leaves your browser. It takes about ten seconds to install.

Add to Chrome - it is free

Also works in Microsoft Edge, Brave, Opera, Vivaldi and Arc.