Insert number of words in word

Word tracks certain summary information about documents, such as the number of words in a document. If you want to display the number of words contained in your document in the document itself that you can quickly update, this is easily accomplished.

To insert a word count in your document, place the cursor at the point in the document where you want to insert the word count and click the “Insert” tab.

In the “Text” section of the “Insert” tab, click the “Quick Parts” button. If your Word window is not wide enough to display “Quick Parts” next to the appropriate button, click the button with the icon to which the mouse cursor is pointing in the following image.

Select “Field” from the drop-down menu.

On the “Field” dialog box, select “Document Information” from the “Categories” drop-down box.

Click on “NumWords” in the “Field names” list on the left.

The “Format” and “Numeric format” lists allow you to specify the format for the field being inserted. However, for the number of words, you don’t need to apply any formatting so don’t select anything from those lists. Click “OK” to insert the field into the document.

The number of words in your document is inserted at the cursor. Once you add or delete words in your document, you can update the word count by right-clicking on the word count number, and selecting “Update Field” from the popup menu.

NOTE: When the cursor is in word count number, the number is highlighted in gray because the number is a field.

If you have other fields in your document you want to update, you can update all of them at once by pressing “Ctrl + A” to select the whole document (minus any headers, footers, footnotes, or endnotes) and then pressing “F9”. To update fields in headers, footers, footnotes, and endnotes, you must open those parts of the document and update the fields in them separately.

You can also insert other document properties into your Word document, including built-in and custom properties.

Microsoft Word is capable of tracking certain summary of information such as the amount of words in a document. But did you know it is possible to add the word count inside the document itself? We’re going to show you how. Getting the job done is far from difficult. You’ll be surprised how easy it is to insert word count in Microsoft Word document, and you’ll also be wondering how you’ve never thought of it before now.

Let’s get this show started.

First, you will need to place the mouse cursor on the section of the document where you want the word count to appear. After that, click on the “Insert” tab at the top of Microsoft Word, and then search for “Quick Parts” in the “Text” section and click on it.

Now, if for some reason the “Quick Parts” option is not showing because your Ribbon Bar is not broad enough, then you will need to follow this easy tip. Look for the “Text Box” option, and beside it at the top, the first button should be the one you’ll need to click to get “Quick Parts” up and running.

From the drop-down menu, click on “Field” and then “Document Information” from the “Categories” drop-down menu.

Hey, we’re almost done here so don’t run off just yet.

Click on “NumWords” from the “Field Names” section on the left. You should now see options called “Format” and “Numeric Formats”. Don’t be scared of all the words and numbers, we’ll get you through this without a sweat.

These options are used to specify a format for the field being inserted into the document. However, since we are not going to add a regular field, there is no need to dabble in those options. Just click “OK” and be done with it.

Now, whenever you add or delete words in your Word Document, naturally the number should change. But bear in mind that it is not automatic, and we’re not certain if there is an option to allow it to change without interference.

This means you will have to make changes manually by right-clicking on the word count and select, “Update Field.”

We wish Microsoft had made it easier to add this field into a Word document instead of having to make so many clicks. But hey, at least it is possible, and now you have just learned something new today.

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