# PDF Word Count - Words, Characters, Reading Time & Flesch

> Count PDF words Word-style for English and CJK: characters, sentences, paragraphs, per-page chart, reading time, keywords and Flesch readability score.

- URL: https://qilingtools.com/en/pdf/word-count
- Category: PDF Tools (https://qilingtools.com/en/pdf)
- Tags: [PDF](https://qilingtools.com/en/tags/pdf), [Text](https://qilingtools.com/en/tags/text)
- Last updated: 2026-10-26
- Price: Free, no sign-up
- Privacy: Runs locally in the browser; files are never uploaded

Submitting a paper, pitching a translation or checking a manuscript limit often comes down to one question: how many words are in this PDF? This tool reads each page’s text with PDF.js, rebuilds lines and paragraphs with the same logic as the site’s PDF to Word converter, and counts the way Microsoft Word does: every Chinese character or Japanese kana counts as one word, other text is split on spaces with each run of letters or digits counting as one word, English words embedded in Chinese count separately, and punctuation isn’t counted. You also get characters with and without spaces, sentences (full stops in Mr., e.g. or 3.14 aren’t treated as sentence ends), paragraphs and pages. Limit the count to a page range, and exclude headers, footers and page numbers — lines repeated at the top or bottom of most pages and standalone page numbers are dropped. Results include a per-page table and a words-per-page chart, reading and speaking time (238 / 140 words per minute for English, 300 / 220 characters per minute for Chinese), top keywords with English and Chinese stop words removed, and Flesch Reading Ease plus Flesch-Kincaid grade for English text. Scanned pages without a text layer are flagged so you can OCR them first. Export the statistics as CSV and the extracted text as TXT. Everything runs in your browser and the file is never uploaded.

## How to use

1. Upload a PDF, optionally enter a page range and choose whether to exclude headers and footers
2. See the total words, CJK characters, Latin words, characters, sentences, paragraphs and reading time
3. Review per-page stats, keywords and readability, then export CSV and the full text

## Features

- Word-compatible counting for English and Chinese / Japanese
- Characters with / without spaces, sentences, paragraphs, pages
- Page range selection; exclude headers, footers and page numbers
- Per-page table and bar chart
- Reading and speaking time estimates
- Top keywords with stop words removed
- Flesch Reading Ease and Flesch-Kincaid grade
- Scanned-page warnings; CSV and TXT export

## FAQ

### Will the count match Microsoft Word?

The rules are the same: each CJK character counts as a word, other text is counted by space-separated runs of letters and digits, and punctuation doesn’t count. But a PDF doesn’t store paragraphs or spaces explicitly, so they’re reconstructed from text positions; justified text, wide letter spacing or unusual layouts can cause small differences. Whether tables, headers, footers and footnotes are included also matters — use the page range and the header / footer option to adjust.

### Why do some pages show zero words?

Those pages have no text layer — usually scans or full-page images — so they’re listed separately and left out of the totals. Run them through Scanned PDF OCR first, then count again.

### How are reading time and readability calculated?

Reading time assumes 238 words per minute for English and 300 characters per minute for Chinese; speaking time assumes 140 words and 220 characters per minute. Readability uses the English Flesch Reading Ease and Flesch-Kincaid grade formulas and is only shown when there is enough English text; they don’t apply to Chinese.

### Is my file uploaded?

No. Text extraction and counting happen entirely in your browser; the PDF never leaves your computer and nothing is stored after you close the page.

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