Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated May 6, 2024)
This tip applies to Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021
Lise is working with 50 small documents, many less than a page long. All are in separate files (no master or subdocuments). She'd like to know the total word count in all the files and wonders if there is an easy way to get the count.
One option is to use a third-party add-in that can calculate the word counts for you. Here are three suggestions you may want to check out:
WordCounter: http://www.editorium.com/counter.htm FineCount: http://www.tilti.com/software-for-translators/finecount/ Total Assistant: http://www.surefiresoftware.com/totalassistant/
Of course, if you prefer to "roll your own" rather than to rely on somebody else's solution, you can create a relatively simple macro that will step through each file in a folder and calculate a total word count.
Sub GetWordCount() Dim docname As String Dim NumWords As Long Dim NumFiles As Integer Dim PathName As String PathName = "c:\mypath\" NumWords = 0 docname = Dir(PathName & "*.doc*") While docname <> "" NumFiles = NumFiles + 1 Documents.Open FileName:=PathName & docname, Visible:=False Documents(docname).Activate NumWords = NumWords + ActiveDocument.BuiltInDocumentProperties("Number of words").Value Documents(docname).Close savechanges:=False docname = Dir Wend MsgBox ("There are " & NumWords & " words in " & NumFiles & " documents.") End Sub
To use the macro, make sure you change the PathName variable so that it reflects the path to the folder containing the documents you want to tally. (The path designation must end in a backslash.) When you run the macro, it displays the word count in a message box.
Note:
WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (13278) applies to Microsoft Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Word here: Word Counts for a Group of Documents.
Comprehensive VBA Guide Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) is the language used for writing macros in all Office programs. This complete guide shows both professionals and novices how to master VBA in order to customize the entire Office suite for their needs. Check out Mastering VBA for Office 2010 today!
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