Display Character Count in Status Bar (Word 2010)

Anonymous
2010-12-25T18:30:36+00:00

I can right-click on the status bar and display the Word Count, but I need to see the Character Count as I type.

How can I display the Character Count in the status bar?

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Paul Edstein 82,871 Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
2010-12-28T03:08:51+00:00

Without programming a new class event to intercept your typing, you can't get a dynamic character count to display on the status bar and, if you did, it would probably prevent anything else displaying there.

You could, though, use a macro like the following and assign a keyboard shortcut to it:

Sub CharCount()

Application.StatusBar = "Character Count = " & ActiveDocument.Characters.Count

End Sub

The above macro temporarily takes over the status bar to display the character count. It gets hidden again as soon as you resume whatever you were doing.

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Answer accepted by question author
Jay Freedman 208.3K Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
2012-03-26T23:18:36+00:00

Technically, something is always selected. If the selection is collapsed to just the insertion point, then the selection is the single character to its right (which may be a paragraph mark). Therefore, the modified macro will show 'Character Count = 1' .

If that makes you unhappy, you can change the macro to this:

Sub CharCount()

If Selection.Type = wdSelectionIP Then

   Application.StatusBar = "Character Count = 0"

Else

   Application.StatusBar = "Character Count = " & Selection.Characters.Count

End If

End Sub

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  1. Anonymous
    2012-03-26T20:17:57+00:00

    Paul --

    1. Is it possible to make this macro run at startup and reset the statusbar to char count?
    2. Is it possible to count characters WITH spaces this way?
    3. Is it possible to amend the macro so if text is selected it will show the char count is a selection?

    Sorry for noob questions.

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  2. Paul Edstein 82,871 Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
    2011-08-11T09:32:35+00:00

    To get a character count for a line, select the characters, then click on the word count stats on Word's toolbar. The character count will be included in the pop-up of displayed stats.

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  3. Anonymous
    2011-08-09T21:49:07+00:00

    Ok, that's perfect. Althought, how can I count only the characters in the active line?

    Is it possible to leave the count in the status bar whyle typing?

    That worlks great for me as it is, but if I could count ony the characters in the line I'm in would be even better.

    Thank you for your help.

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