Characters to Words Calculator
Convert a character count into an estimated word count, or words into characters. Choose whether your count includes spaces and which language you’re writing in; the ratios are measured, not guessed.
- Both directions
- 20 languages
Or paste your text to get its exact counts
How to convert characters to words
Converting characters to words with this calculator takes three steps.
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Enter the character count
Type it, tap a common size, or paste text to use its exact count.
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Say whether spaces are included
Most limits count spaces. Some forms and translation quotes don’t.
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Choose the language
Words are longer in German or Finnish and shorter in Spanish, so the ratio changes.
1,000 English characters with spaces ÷ 6.06 characters per word ≈ 165 words.
Characters to words conversion chart
This characters to words conversion chart shows English word counts for common character limits.
| Characters | Words (count includes spaces) | Words (count excludes spaces) | Pages, single-spaced | Reading time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 100 | 17 | 20 | 0.1 | 4 s |
| 280 | 46 | 56 | 0.1 | 12 s |
| 500 | 83 | 101 | 0.2 | 21 s |
| 1,000 | 165 | 201 | 0.3 | 42 s |
| 1,500 | 248 | 302 | 0.5 | 1 min 2 s |
| 2,000 | 330 | 402 | 0.7 | 1 min 23 s |
| 2,500 | 413 | 503 | 0.8 | 1 min 44 s |
| 3,000 | 495 | 604 | 1 | 2 min 5 s |
| 5,000 | 825 | 1,006 | 1.7 | 3 min 28 s |
| 10,000 | 1,650 | 2,012 | 3.3 | 6 min 56 s |
English, measured at 6.06 characters per word with spaces and 4.97 without. Pages assume 500 words per single-spaced page.
Words to characters conversion chart
Switch the calculator to “Words → characters” to go the other way. These are the English figures for common word counts.
| Words | Characters with spaces | Characters without spaces |
|---|---|---|
| 50 | 303 | 249 |
| 100 | 606 | 497 |
| 250 | 1,515 | 1,243 |
| 500 | 3,030 | 2,485 |
| 750 | 4,545 | 3,728 |
| 1,000 | 6,060 | 4,970 |
| 1,500 | 9,090 | 7,455 |
| 2,000 | 12,120 | 9,940 |
English, measured at 6.06 characters per word with spaces and 4.97 without.
How to convert words to characters
Multiply your word count by the average number of characters per word: Characters = Words × Characters per word. In English that’s 6.06 if your limit counts spaces, or 4.97 if it doesn’t.
For example, a 500-word essay is about 500 × 6.06 = 3,030 characters with spaces, or about 2,485 without. In the calculator, choose Words → characters, enter your word count and pick your language.
Characters to words conversion formula
The characters to words formula divides the character count by the average number of characters in one word.
Words = Characters ÷ Characters per word
- Characters
- Your character count, with or without spaces.
- Characters per word
- The average length of a word in your language. For English: 6.06 including the space after each word, or 4.97 letters only.
280 characters (one full tweet)
280 ÷ 6.06 = 46.2
About 46 words
5,000 characters without spaces
5,000 ÷ 4.97 = 1006.0
About 1,006 words
Measured on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the same text translated into every language, so the languages compare fairly. Formal writing uses slightly longer words than conversation.
Average characters per word by language
Average characters per word vary a lot by language, which is why the calculator asks for yours.
| Language | Characters per word (with spaces) | Without spaces | Words per 1,000 characters |
|---|---|---|---|
| English | 6.06 | 4.97 | 165 |
| Spanish | 6.21 | 5.10 | 161 |
| French | 6.11 | 5.01 | 164 |
| German | 7.26 | 6.15 | 138 |
| Italian | 6.58 | 5.49 | 152 |
| Portuguese | 6.26 | 5.13 | 160 |
| Dutch | 6.50 | 5.39 | 154 |
| Swedish | 6.83 | 5.70 | 146 |
| Finnish | 8.67 | 7.50 | 115 |
| Polish | 7.32 | 6.20 | 137 |
| Russian | 7.33 | 6.20 | 136 |
| Turkish | 7.53 | 6.40 | 133 |
| Indonesian | 7.25 | 6.15 | 138 |
| Arabic | 5.65 | 4.59 | 177 |
| Urdu | 4.49 | 3.42 | 223 |
| Hindi | 3.47 | 2.34 | 288 |
| Vietnamese | 4.42 | 3.34 | 226 |
| Korean | 3.99 | 2.87 | 251 |
| Chinese (Simplified) | 1.85 | 1.67 | 541 |
| Japanese | 1.92 | 1.76 | 521 |
Chinese and Japanese don’t put spaces between words, so word counts there come from dictionary-based word splitting. Hindi characters are counted as written syllables.
Characters to words FAQ
How many words is 1,000 characters?
About 165 words in English if the count includes spaces, or about 201 if it doesn’t.
How many words is 280 characters?
About 46 English words, which is why a full tweet holds roughly 45 to 50 words.
How many characters are in an average word?
In English, about 5.0 letters, or about 6.1 characters including the space and punctuation that follow it.
How accurate is a characters to words estimate?
For a few hundred words or more it’s usually within about 10%. Short texts and technical writing vary more. For an exact count, paste the text into the calculator.
Do spaces count as characters?
Usually, yes. Most character limits, including social media and forms, count spaces. Choose “Excludes spaces” only if your limit says so.
How many characters is 500 words?
About 3,030 characters with spaces in English, or about 2,485 without spaces.
How many characters is 100 words?
About 606 characters with spaces in English, or about 497 without.
Sources and references
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