Words per page calculator · Free · No sign-up
Words Per Page Calculator
A words per page calculator turns a word count into pages, or pages into words. This one works it out from the font, size, line spacing, paper, margins and paragraph length rather than a fixed 250 a page: 1,000 words in 12 pt Times New Roman, double-spaced on Letter paper, fill about 3.0 pages.
328 words a page double-spaced and 656 single-spaced in 12 pt Times New Roman; about 221 in Courier New, where the 250 rule comes from.
Type either one: the other follows.
- Words a page
- 328
- Lines a page
- 23
- Words a line
- 15.5
- Pages filled
- 4
- Line height
- 27.6 pt
- Text block
- 6.5 × 9.0 in
| Spacing | Letter pages | Letter words a page | A4 pages | A4 words a page |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single | 1.5 | 656 | 1.5 | 689 |
| 1.08 | 1.6 | 613 | 1.6 | 634 |
| 1.15 | 1.8 | 570 | 1.7 | 592 |
| 1.5 | 2.3 | 442 | 2.2 | 454 |
| Double | 3.0 | 328 | 2.9 | 344 |
Times New Roman at 12 pt has a single line of 13.8 pt, so double spacing is 27.6 pt and the 9.0 in text block holds 23 lines (a line that does not fit goes to the next page). A word of 4.8 letters with its space and punctuation is 29.2 pt, so a 6.5 in line holds 15.5 words, allowing half a word lost at each line end; paragraphs of about 100 words, each ending part way along a line, with a 0.5 in first-line indent.
Use my text instead of averages
Optional: paste the text to have it set line by line instead of on averages.
Use my document’s own words a page
Optional: from a document already laid out, its words and pages give its own words a page.
The figures above are an example: put in your own. Worked out in this browser and kept there. To get the word count first, use the word counter.
Type a word count to see the pages, or the pages to see the words. Change the font, size, spacing, paper and margins, or paste your text, and every figure shows how it was worked out.
Words per page is how many words fit on one page in a given format. It depends on how many lines the page holds, set by the paper, margins, font size and line spacing, and on how many words fit a line, set by the font’s letter widths, the length of the words and the paragraphs.
- No sign-up
- Nothing uploaded
- Fonts measured
- Works offline
- Shows its working
Key facts
| Detail | Answer |
|---|---|
| Price | Free, no sign-up, nothing to install |
| Works both ways | Words to pages, and pages to words |
| 12 pt Times New Roman, Letter | About 328 words a page double-spaced, 656 single |
| Fonts | Times New Roman, Arial, Calibri, Cambria, Courier New, Georgia, Palatino Linotype, Verdana |
| Paper | US Letter, A4, US Legal; 6 × 9, 5.5 × 8.5 and 5 × 8 in books |
| Method | Lines a page from the font’s line height; words a line from its letter widths |
| Checked against | Chrome’s layout of 53,018 words: within 2% on averages, 0.25% with text |
| Where your text is kept | This browser only |
How to work out how many pages your words will fill
Enter the count, set the format, and read the board.
Enter words or pages
Type the word count to get pages, or a number of pages to get the words they hold.
Set the format
Choose the font, size, line spacing, paper and margins your document uses.
Describe the paragraphs
Pick indented or spaced, and about how long they run; dialogue makes them short.
Add the first page
Choose MLA or APA if the essay starts with a heading or a title page.
Read the board
Pages or words at the top, words a page and lines a page under it, and every spacing on Letter and A4 in the table.
Use your text or document
Paste the text to have it set line by line, or enter a laid-out document’s words and pages to use its own words a page.
Who uses a words per page calculator
Anyone whose length is set in one unit and written in the other.
Students
An essay set in pages written to a word count, or a word count checked against a page limit, in MLA or APA.
Teachers
A page requirement turned into the words it really means in the format the class uses.
Novelists
A manuscript’s word count turned into a book’s pages at a chosen trim size.
Self-publishers
A page estimate for a print quote before the book is typeset.
Freelance writers
A brief given in pages priced in words, or the reverse.
Anyone with a page limit
Applications, reports and grant sections that cap pages but are written in words.
Why 250 words a page: a typewriter figure, and what each font holds
Nearly every words-to-pages calculator in the search results multiplies by a fixed figure: 250 words a page double-spaced, 500 single-spaced, whatever font you choose. Those figures are older than the word processor. A pica typewriter prints 10 characters to the inch and 6 lines to the inch. On a Letter page with 1 inch margins that is 65 characters a line and, double-spaced, 27 lines. An English word averages 4.79 letters (Peter Norvig’s count of 743 billion words in Google Books), about 6 characters with its space and punctuation, so a line holds about 10 words; less the room paragraph ends take, a page holds about 250.
Courier, the typewriter’s face, still gives that figure: Courier New 12 pt double-spaced holds about 221 words a page here. Every letter in Courier is the same width. In Times New Roman an i is under a third the width of an M, and the average letter is under three quarters of a Courier one, so the same page holds about 328. Using 250 for a Times New Roman essay overstates the pages by about a third.
| Font | Words a line | Double-spaced | Single-spaced | 1,000 words, double-spaced |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Times New Roman | 15.5 | 328 | 656 | 3.0 |
| Calibri | 15.3 | 309 | 618 | 3.2 |
| Cambria | 14.6 | 310 | 620 | 3.2 |
| Georgia | 14.1 | 301 | 614 | 3.3 |
| Arial | 14.1 | 299 | 598 | 3.3 |
| Palatino Linotype | 14.1 | 260 | 521 | 3.8 |
| Verdana | 12.1 | 249 | 499 | 4.0 |
| Courier New | 10.2 | 221 | 452 | 4.5 |
Two fonts break the pattern. Verdana is wide, so few words fit a line. Palatino Linotype is not wide, but its single line is 16.2 pt at 12 pt where Times New Roman’s is 13.8 pt, so a double-spaced page holds 20 lines instead of 23. The font changes both measurements, which is why a calculator that ignores it can only be right for one font.
How many pages is 500, 1,000 or 2,000 words?
Pages for the word counts essays and articles are usually set at, worked out by the calculator with paragraphs of about 100 words and an average English word. Text with long words or short paragraphs runs longer; the sections below show by how much.
| Words | Times New Roman 12, double | Times New Roman 12, single | Arial 12, double | Calibri 11, 1.08 and 8 pt after | Times New Roman 12, double, A4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 250 | 0.8 | 0.4 | 0.8 | 0.4 | 0.7 |
| 500 | 1.5 | 0.8 | 1.7 | 0.8 | 1.5 |
| 750 | 2.3 | 1.1 | 2.5 | 1.2 | 2.2 |
| 1,000 | 3.0 | 1.5 | 3.3 | 1.6 | 2.9 |
| 1,500 | 4.6 | 2.3 | 5.0 | 2.4 | 4.4 |
| 2,000 | 6.1 | 3.0 | 6.7 | 3.2 | 5.8 |
| 2,500 | 7.6 | 3.8 | 8.4 | 4.0 | 7.3 |
| 3,000 | 9.1 | 4.6 | 10.0 | 4.8 | 8.7 |
| 5,000 | 15.2 | 7.6 | 16.7 | 8.0 | 14.5 |
| 10,000 | 30.5 | 15.2 | 33.5 | 16.0 | 29.0 |
The fourth column is Microsoft Word’s Normal style from Word 2013 until Microsoft moved Office to Aptos, announced in 2023: Calibri 11 pt, 1.08 line spacing and 8 pt after each paragraph. A document started from a blank page in those years and never reformatted is in that style. Aptos is not in the calculator yet; for a document in it, use Use my document’s own words a page.
A4 or Letter. A4 is 0.3 in narrower than Letter and 0.7 in taller. With 1 in (2.54 cm) margins the lines lose a little, but a double-spaced page gains two lines, 25 against 23, so A4 holds about 344 words a page to Letter’s 328. Teachers in A4 countries who ask for pages are asking for slightly more words.
Why short paragraphs and long words take more pages
Every paragraph starts with an indent and stops part way along its last line, half a line on average. A 100-word paragraph spends about half a line on those; a line of dialogue spends the same on 8 words. That is why a novel with a lot of dialogue fills more pages than an essay of the same length, and why the calculator asks for paragraph length.
| Paragraphs of | Words a page | Pages for 1,000 words |
|---|---|---|
| One unbroken block | 358 | 2.8 |
| About 150 words | 337 | 3.0 |
| About 100 words | 328 | 3.0 |
| About 60 words | 311 | 3.2 |
| About 40 words | 292 | 3.4 |
Indent or space. An indented first line costs about a word. Word’s spaced style, no indent and 8 pt after each paragraph, costs more: about 318 words a page against 328 indented, and 612 against 656 single-spaced, where 8 pt is a larger share of each paragraph.
Long words. Academic and technical writing uses longer words than the 4.79-letter average, and a longer word takes more of the line. Count the letters in a sample of your writing and put the average in Average word, or paste the text and the calculator measures it for you.
| Average word | Words a page | Pages for 1,000 words |
|---|---|---|
| 4.3 letters | 358 | 2.8 |
| 4.79 letters, the English average | 328 | 3.0 |
| 5.2 letters | 307 | 3.3 |
| 5.5 letters | 293 | 3.4 |
Essays: the MLA heading and the APA title page
A page count set for an essay is usually meant in the course’s style, and the two common ones treat the first page differently. MLA (9th edition) puts your name, the instructor, the course and the date on four double-spaced lines at the top of page 1, then the title, so five lines of page 1 hold no essay. APA (7th edition) student papers have a separate title page and repeat the title at the top of page 2. Choose either under First page.
| Words | Text only | MLA heading and title | APA title page |
|---|---|---|---|
| 500 | 1.5 | 1.7 | 2.6 |
| 1,000 | 3.0 | 3.3 | 4.1 |
| 1,500 | 4.6 | 4.8 | 5.6 |
| 2,000 | 6.1 | 6.3 | 7.1 |
| 2,500 | 7.6 | 7.8 | 8.7 |
So a 5-page MLA essay holds about 71 fewer words than 5 pages of text alone, and an APA paper’s title page is a whole page with no essay on it. In both styles the works cited or reference list starts on a new page; it is left out here, so check whether your page count includes it.
Pages or words. When an assignment gives both, the word count is the firmer one: it cannot be met by changing the font. When it gives pages only, the calculator shows how many words those pages hold in the required format, so you can write to a count rather than to the end of the last page.
Words per page in a printed book
A printed book page is smaller than a sheet of Letter or A4, set single-spaced in a book face, and its paragraphs are shorter because of dialogue. Choose a book size under Paper; the margins drop to 0.75 in all round, and you can set them to your printer’s figures.
| Trim size | Lines a page | Words a page | 50,000 words | 80,000 words |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 × 9 in book | 36 | 341 | 146 | 234 |
| 5.5 × 8.5 in book | 33 | 279 | 179 | 287 |
| 5 × 8 in book | 31 | 230 | 218 | 348 |
These are pages of text. A printed book adds the front matter, a new page or a recto for each chapter, part-empty chapter endings, and any blank pages the printer needs to make up a signature, none of which a word count can predict. A publisher or typesetter laying out a sample chapter in the real face gives the true words a page; enter its words and pages under Use my document’s own words a page and the calculator scales it to the whole book. For manuscripts sent to agents and editors, length is the word count, not pages.
How the calculator lays out a page, and how close it gets
The calculator lays a page out the way a word processor does, in four steps, and the note under the board shows each number for your settings.
Lines a page. The text block is the page less its margins. The line height is the font’s own single line, the figure a word processor calls single, times the spacing: Times New Roman at 12 pt is 13.8 pt single and 27.6 pt double. The block divided by the line, rounded down because a line that does not fit goes over, is the lines a page.
Words a line. Each letter’s width comes from the font file. An average word is its letters, the punctuation English prose carries per word, and a space. A line breaks between words, which leaves on average half a word of space empty at its end, so half a word comes off.
Paragraphs. Each adds its indent or its space after, and ends half a line short on average.
The first page. An MLA heading takes five lines; APA adds a title page and the title line.
With text pasted in, steps 2 and 3 are not averages: each paragraph is wrapped word by word with the font’s real widths, as the page would set it. To see how close each method gets, the same 999 paragraphs of English prose, 53,018 words, were set with each font in Chrome and the lines counted:
| Font and line | Chrome | Pasted text | Averages |
|---|---|---|---|
| Times New Roman 12 pt, 6.5 in line | 3,648 | 3,650 (+0.1%) | 3,681 (+0.9%) |
| Times New Roman 11 pt, 4 in line | 5,257 | 5,263 (+0.1%) | 5,318 (+1.2%) |
| Arial 12 pt, 6.5 in line | 3,980 | 3,982 (+0.1%) | 4,010 (+0.8%) |
| Calibri 12 pt, 6.5 in line | 3,704 | 3,703 (−0.0%) | 3,726 (+0.6%) |
| Georgia 12 pt, 6.5 in line | 3,964 | 3,966 (+0.1%) | 3,984 (+0.5%) |
| Verdana 12 pt, 6.5 in line | 4,510 | 4,514 (+0.1%) | 4,560 (+1.1%) |
| Courier New 11 pt, 6.5 in line | 4,885 | 4,887 (+0.0%) | 4,932 (+1.0%) |
With the text pasted the calculator came within 0.25% of the browser, and on averages within 2%. One case is left out above: Courier New at 12 pt, where Chrome rounds each letter to whole screen pixels and fits fewer per line than the font specifies, so it differs from the calculator by 1.6%; Courier New at 11 pt agrees. Word processors also break lines between words, but kerning, hyphenation and keeping a paragraph’s last line off a new page each move a line now and then, so expect your document to differ by a line or two a page, and use its own page count where it exists.
What this calculator does not do
The calculator turns words into pages and back for running text. It does not lay out the parts of a document that are not running text:
| It does | It does not |
|---|---|
| Work out pages from the font, size, spacing, paper, margins and paragraphs | Allow for headings, block quotes, lists, tables, images, footnotes or a reference list |
| Measure eight common fonts from their font files | Know a font that is not in the list, such as Aptos; use your document’s own words and pages for it |
| Wrap pasted text line by line | Hyphenate, justify, or keep a paragraph’s last line off a new page (widow and orphan control), each of which moves a line or two |
| Give a book’s pages of text | Count chapter openings, front matter or blank pages, or quote a printer’s page count |
| Say how many words fill a set number of pages | Count the words in a text by a style guide’s rules: use the word counter, which says how it counts, and why word counts differ for where tools part |
| Keep your settings and text in this browser | Send your text anywhere |
This calculator, a typical tool, the 250 rule or your word processor
Four ways to turn a word count into pages, and where each one stops.
| This calculator | A typical words-to-pages tool | The 250-a-page rule | Your word processor | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cost | Free, no sign-up | Free, often with ads | Free | Part of the app |
| The font’s real width | Measured from the font file | A fixed figure per font, unstated | No: a Courier figure | Yes |
| Paper and margins | Letter, A4, Legal, three book sizes; five margins | Sometimes | No | Yes |
| Paragraph length | Yes, or measured from your text | Rarely | No | Yes |
| MLA and APA first pages | Yes | No | No | Once you type them |
| Pages to words | Yes, both ways | Sometimes | Yes | No |
| Shows its working | Every number, and a check against a real layout | No | One multiplication | No working needed |
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Frequently asked questions
How many pages is 1000 words?
About 3.0 pages double-spaced and 1.5 single-spaced in 12 pt Times New Roman on Letter paper with 1 inch margins, the usual essay format. Arial 12 double-spaced runs to about 3.3 pages and Courier New to 4.5. Short paragraphs, long words or an MLA heading add a little; the calculator works it out for your format or your pasted text.
How many words is a page double spaced?
About 328 in 12 pt Times New Roman on US Letter with 1 inch margins: 23 lines of about 16 words, less the room paragraph ends take. Arial 12 gives about 299 and Courier New about 221. The familiar 250 is a Courier figure, from typewriters, and is about a third too low for Times New Roman.
How many words per page single spaced?
About 656 in 12 pt Times New Roman on Letter paper, twice the double-spaced figure because the page holds 46 lines instead of 23. Arial 12 gives about 598, and Calibri 11 in Word’s former default style, 1.08 spacing with 8 pt between paragraphs, about 626. The old rule of 500 is again a Courier figure: Courier New single-spaced holds about 452.
How many pages is 2000 words double spaced?
About 6.1 pages in 12 pt Times New Roman on Letter paper with 1 inch margins, 6.7 in Arial 12 and 9.0 in Courier New. On A4 the same text is about 5.8 pages, because an A4 page holds 25 double-spaced lines to Letter’s 23. An MLA heading adds about a fifth of a page, and an APA title page adds a whole one.
How many words is 5 pages?
About 1,640 words double-spaced and 3,280 single-spaced in 12 pt Times New Roman on Letter paper. In Arial 12 double-spaced it is about 1,494, and in Courier New about 1,106. A 5-page essay with an MLA heading holds about 71 fewer, since the heading and title take five lines of page 1. Type 5 in Pages and the calculator gives the figure for your format.
Why is 250 words considered a page?
Because typewriters set it. A pica typewriter prints 10 characters an inch and 6 lines an inch, so a Letter page with 1 inch margins holds 65-character lines, about 10 words, and 27 double-spaced lines: about 250 words once paragraph ends are allowed for. Courier New still holds about 221. Proportional fonts fit more, about 328 in Times New Roman.
Does font size change words per page?
Yes, by about the square of the size, because a larger font makes the lines taller and the words wider at once. Times New Roman double-spaced on Letter holds about 474 words a page at 10 pt, 328 at 12 pt and 246 at 14 pt. The font matters as much as the size: at 12 pt, Verdana holds about 249 and Times New Roman about 328.
How many words per page in a book?
It depends on the trim size and the typesetting. Set in 11 pt Palatino Linotype with 0.75 inch margins and fiction-length paragraphs, a 6 × 9 inch page holds about 341 words, 5.5 × 8.5 inch about 279 and 5 × 8 inch about 230. Chapter openings and front matter add pages a word count cannot predict, so a typesetter’s sample chapter is the final word.
How accurate is a words to pages calculator?
One that multiplies by a fixed figure is out by however far your format is from its assumption: 250 a page is about a third too low for Times New Roman 12 double-spaced. This one lays the page out, and against Chrome’s own layout of 53,018 words it came within 2% on averages and 0.25% with the text pasted. Your word processor’s page count is still the final figure.
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