Word Count
WonderPen can count words in the current document, selected text, multiple documents, or an entire library. You can also switch to character counts.
TIP
This page covers the words your documents currently contain. To see how much you actually write each day and for how long, see Typing Statistics. To set word targets and track progress, see Writing Plan.
Editor Status Bar
The status bar at the bottom of the editor shows the current document's word count.
When you select text, the status bar shows the selection count followed by the whole document’s count. For example, “Words: 120 / 1,800” means the selection contains 120 words and the document contains 1,800 words in total.
Hover over the count to see the results for the whole current document using each counting method, then click one to select it. When the editor is split into top and bottom panes, click the count to open this menu instead.
| Counting method | What it counts |
|---|---|
| Words | Words in languages such as English; individual characters in languages such as Chinese |
| Characters (excluding spaces) | Characters excluding whitespace such as spaces, tabs, and line breaks |
| Characters (including spaces) | Characters including spaces and other whitespace, but excluding line breaks |
| Characters | The document's raw stored content, which may include formatting markup; generally unsuitable for measuring manuscript length |
Your choice also applies to the directory tree, totals for multiple documents, and the library total. When comparing counts, check both the counting method and which documents are included.
Show or Hide Statistics
The options below the counts let you show or hide the word count, cursor position, today's typing statistics, and typing speed. To hide the word count, uncheck Show Word Count.
A calculator icon remains in the main window's status bar. Hover over it to reopen the menu and enable Show Word Count again. With top and bottom editor panes, click the icon instead.
This setting only controls whether the editor displays the word count. Counting continues, and this setting does not affect the directory tree counts or the Total for child documents.
The word count stays first in the status bar. You can drag the blocks after it—such as the total, cursor position, today’s typing statistics, and typing speed—to reorder them.
Display Word Count in Directory Tree
Go to Settings → Advanced → Directory Tree and enable Show word count after title.
Counts appear beside document titles, making it easier to compare chapter lengths.
Click the three-dot button in the upper-right corner of the Document panel, then choose Word Count Type to control whether child documents are included. The gear icon beside Show word count after title in Settings → Advanced → Directory Tree opens the same panel.
These options control which documents are counted and how the counts appear in the tree. They are separate from the choice between word and character counts in the status bar. In these options, “current document” means the document on each row of the tree, rather than only the document open in the editor.
| Display option | Values beside the title |
|---|---|
| Show current document word count only | The current document's own count |
| Show total word count only | The current document plus all its descendants |
| Show current document word count and total word count | Current document | Total including the current document |
| Show current document word count and child document total word count | Current document | Descendants only, excluding the current document |
Documents without children show only their own count.
Count Multiple Documents
In the directory tree, hold Shift and click to select a range. Hold Ctrl (⌘ on macOS) and click to add or remove individual documents. Multiple selection is limited to documents with the same parent.
The bottom of the editor area shows the number of selected documents and their combined word count. The word count includes all descendants of the selected documents, while Count refers only to the number of directly selected documents.
Count a Document and Its Children
When you open a document that has children, the status bar shows additional summary information alongside the current document's own count. Total is the combined word count, and Items is the number of documents. All descendants are included, even those at deeper levels.
Hover over this summary to show only Total, only Items, or both. Enable Include Current Document to include the current document in both the word count and the document count; disable it to count descendants only. With top and bottom editor panes, click the summary to open the menu.
This setting affects only the status bar summary. It does not change the tree's display options or the current document's own count.
Count the Entire Library
Click the library name in the top bar to see the combined count for all documents in the library, including documents marked as reference material. This counts document content; it excludes memos, cards, and documents in the Trash.
If the total seems out of date, click the refresh icon beside it to recalculate the counts.