Does it count text in scanned (image-only) PDFs?

Only if the scan carries a text layer. For image-only scans, the count comes back near zero — run the file through the Searchable PDF tool first to add OCR text, then analyze it.

Are headers, footers, and page numbers included in the count?

Yes — everything extractable on a page is counted, including repeated headers and footers. For a body-only figure, estimate the per-page boilerplate (say, four words of header plus a page number) and subtract it times the page count.

Why does the count differ from Microsoft Word's?

Small differences are normal. PDF extraction can split or join tokens differently than the source document — hyphenated line breaks, ligatures, and table text are the usual suspects. Treat differences of a percent or two as inherent to the format, not an error in either count.

Can I export the per-page breakdown?

The results are displayed on the page rather than downloaded as a file. The table is plain text — select and copy it straight into a spreadsheet if you need it in your records.

PDF Word Count

Count words, characters, and lines in your PDF with a per-page breakdown.

Drop PDF files here or browse

Max 100MB per file

About PDF Word Count

When you bill translation by the word, submit an essay with a length limit, or quote an editing job, you need an accurate count — and PDF readers don't give you one. The usual workaround, copy-pasting into a word processor, silently miscounts: headers, footers, and page numbers ride along with the body text, and line breaks turn into garbage.

Convertora's word-count tool extracts the text from each page of a PDF and reports words, characters with spaces, characters without spaces, and non-empty lines — as document totals and as a per-page breakdown table. The per-page view is the underrated part: it shows you instantly which pages carry the content and which are boilerplate, covers, or blanks.

The analysis runs in your browser, so manuscripts under NDA and unpublished theses are counted without being uploaded anywhere.

How to use it

1Upload a PDF (up to 100 MB).
2Click Analyze. The text of every page is extracted and counted.
3Read the summary cards: pages, total words, characters (with and without spaces), and lines.
4Scan the per-page table — page by page word and character counts — to subtract covers, references, or appendices from your effective total.

Common use cases

Quoting a translation job priced per word from a client's PDF.
Verifying an essay, abstract, or grant application against a hard word or character limit.
Estimating reading or recording time for a script (a steady reader covers roughly 150–200 words per minute).
Checking a contractor's delivered word count without asking for source files.

Frequently asked questions

Tips

Use the per-page table to exclude non-billable pages: total words minus the cover, contents, and references pages gives the figure clients actually care about.
A near-zero count on a file you can read on screen is the classic signature of an image-only scan — OCR it first.

100% private — runs in your browser

Convertora processes everything on your device using JavaScript and WebAssembly. Files never leave your browser, are never uploaded to a server, and are never seen by us or anyone else. The moment you close the tab, the data is gone — there is no temporary cloud copy, no log entry, no retained backup.

Because the work happens locally, processing speed depends on your device — but there are no rate limits, no daily caps, and no file size restrictions beyond what your browser can handle in memory. No signup, no account, no payment. The tool works the same in incognito mode, on a corporate network, or after the page has loaded once, even with the network disconnected.