---
title: "Word Count plugin"
description: "Show a word count in the TinyMCE status bar."
canonical_url: "https://www.tiny.cloud/docs/tinymce/latest/wordcount/"
md_url: "https://www.tiny.cloud/docs/tinymce/5/wordcount/index.md"
version: "5"
last_updated: "2024-04-16T01:50:26Z"
tokens: 165
---
Important This page documents TinyMCE 5. For new projects, Tiny recommends using the latest, most up-to-date version. [See TinyMCE 8 documentation](../../latest/wordcount/).
# Word Count plugin

The Word Count plugin adds the functionality for counting words to the TinyMCE editor by placing a counter on the right edge of the status bar. Clicking **Word Count** in the status bar switches between counting words and characters. A dialog box with both word and character counts can be opened using the menu item situated in the **Tools** drop-down, or the toolbar button.

## Basic setup

```js
tinymce.init({
  selector: 'textarea',  // change this value according to your HTML
  plugins: 'wordcount',
  toolbar: 'wordcount'
});
```