Step by step
- On Mac, open your document in Pages and click View > Show Word Count in the top menu bar.
- Move your pointer over the word count box at the bottom of the document, click the arrows, and choose Characters with spaces or Characters without spaces.
- On iPhone or iPad, tap the More button (three dots) at the top of the screen and turn on Word Count.
- Tap the counter at the bottom of the screen to switch between words, characters with spaces, and characters without spaces.
- If you want to check limits for X, SMS, or Instagram at the same time, paste the text into the counter on this page.
At a glance
| Device | How to turn it on | What you can see |
|---|---|---|
| Mac | View > Show Word Count | Words, characters with or without spaces, paragraphs, pages |
| iPhone | More (three dots) > Word Count | Words, characters with or without spaces, paragraphs, pages |
| iPad | Document options > Word Count | Words, characters with or without spaces, paragraphs, pages |
| Any browser | Paste text into the tool above | Characters, words, sentences, lines, platform limits |
Where to find it on your device
- Pages on Mac: View > Show Word Count
- Pages on iPhone: More (three dots) > Word Count
Related questions
Can I count characters in Pages on iPhone?
Yes. Tap the More button (three dots) at the top of your document, turn on Word Count, and then tap the floating counter at the bottom to switch it to characters.
How do I count characters for only one paragraph in Pages?
Select the text you want to measure. The Pages counter automatically updates to show the count for your selection instead of the whole document.
Does Apple Pages count spaces as characters?
Pages lets you choose between Characters with spaces and Characters without spaces. Click or tap the counter box to switch between the two.
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Open the full character counter →
Updated November 14, 2026.