Display word counts in your Word documents

If you need to deliver articles with specific target lengths, it can be helpful to track word counts right in your Word document - especially if you want to pass this detail on to collaborators or editors.

To do this, just go to the Insert tab, click the Quick Parts button, and select Field:

This opens the Field dialog box. Select NumWords from the Field names and then click the first 0 for Numeric format:

This will insert your word count right where your cursor was. Now you just need to type "Word Count" into your document so it's clear what the field being displayed is. (This may pad your word count by 2.)

If you edit the document further, the field will not update unless you refresh it. Simply right click the number and select Update Field to display the latest word count.

Suzanne