Word and character limits: spaces, line breaks and what counts
Application essays, cover letters and online forms usually come with a limit such as "650 words maximum" or "2,000 characters including spaces". These look similar, but they allow quite different amounts of writing. Misreading the rule can mean cutting hundreds of characters at the last minute.
Words versus characters
A word limit counts each group of letters separated by spaces. A character limit counts every single letter, number and punctuation mark, and often every space too. In English, the average word is around five letters plus a space, so 2,000 characters including spaces is roughly 300 to 350 words. If you plan your draft in words but the form counts characters, you may be in for a surprise.
With spaces or without
Characters with spaces count each space as one character. Characters without spaces count only visible characters. In typical English prose, spaces make up about 15 to 18% of the text, so a limit "without spaces" lets you write noticeably more than the same limit "with spaces". Check the wording of the form and keep an eye on both numbers.
How line breaks are counted
Line breaks are the most common source of small mismatches. Some forms count each line break as one character, some as two, and some not at all. If you split your answer into several paragraphs, this can make a difference of 10 to 20 characters. Use the "Count line breaks as characters" switch in the word counter to check both cases.
What counts as a word
Most counters, including ours, treat anything between spaces as one word. That means "well-known" is one word, while "well known" is two. Numbers and symbols separated by spaces also count. Different tools can disagree by a word or two on hyphens, dashes and URLs, so aim a little below the limit.
Practical tips for hitting the limit
- Aim 2 to 3% under the limit. For 650 words, 630 to 640 is a safe target.
- Write your first draft without worrying about length, then cut sentences that repeat the same idea.
- Replace wordy phrases with shorter ones: "in order to" becomes "to", "due to the fact that" becomes "because".
- If you send similar essays to several places, compare versions with a text compare tool. It also helps you catch an old school or company name you forgot to change.
One last check
Before you submit, paste your text into the actual form and check the count it shows. Every tool counts slightly differently, and the form you submit to always has the final say.