Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, and Word in Microsoft 365. If you are using an earlier version (Word 2003 or earlier), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for earlier versions of Word, click here: Inserting a Dynamic Word Count in Your Document.

Inserting a Dynamic Word Count in Your Document

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated December 28, 2024)
This tip applies to Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, and Word in Microsoft 365

Word keeps track of summary information for a document. You can see the information maintained by Word simply by displaying the Properties dialog box for your document. One of the pieces of information maintained is the number of words in the document. This information is updated whenever the document is printed. Word allows you to insert this bit of summary information in your document by following these steps:

Position the insertion point where you want the number of words to appear.
Make sure the Insert tab of the ribbon is displayed.
Click the Quick Parts tool in the Text group. Word displays a number of choices from which you should choose Field. Word displays the Field dialog box. (See Figure 1.)

Figure 1. The Field dialog box.

Using the Categories drop-down list, choose Document Information.
Select NumWords from the Field Names list.
Click on OK.

If you prefer to not use the Field dialog box (for whatever reason), you can insert the number of words into your document by following these steps:

Press Ctrl+F9. This inserts a pair of field braces within your document.
Type "NumWords" (without the quote marks).
Press F9 to collapse the field and display the field's results (the number of words in the document).

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (7353) applies to Microsoft Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, and Word in Microsoft 365. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Word here: Inserting a Dynamic Word Count in Your Document.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. Learn more about Allen...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Inserting Cells in a Table

You can enlarge a table by adding cells where they are needed. Just pick where you want the cells inserted, then use the ...

Discover More

Highlighting the Rows of Selected Cells

If you lose your place on the screen quite often, you might find it helpful to have not just a single cell highlighted, ...

Discover More

Going to the Corners of a Selected Range

When you select a range of cells (particularly if it is a large range of cells), you may not be quite sure if you've ...

Discover More

The First and Last Word on Word! Bestselling For Dummies author Dan Gookin puts his usual fun and friendly candor back to work to show you how to navigate Word 2019. Spend more time working and less time trying to figure it all out! Check out Word 2019 For Dummies today!

More WordTips (ribbon)

Dates Updating when Converting

Word allows you to convert documents from WordPerfect format to Word. In doing so, you may notice that some dates in the ...

Discover More

Indicating the Date Changes were Last Made

Do you want to keep track of when changes were made to your document? This tip looks at a couple of ways to do it, along ...

Discover More

Inserting the Total Number of Characters in Your Document

One of the things that Word keeps track of regarding your document is the number of characters it contains. Using the ...

Discover More

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

View most recent newsletter.

Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

Notify me about new comments ONLY FOR THIS TIP

Notify me about new comments ANYWHERE ON THIS SITE

Hide my email address

What is 9 - 3?

There are currently no comments for this tip. (Be the first to leave your comment—just use the simple form above!)

This Site

Got a version of Word that uses the ribbon interface (Word 2007 or later)? This site is for you! If you use an earlier version of Word, visit our WordTips site focusing on the menu interface.