Inserting the Total Number of Characters in Your Document

Word keeps track of summary information for a document. You can see the information maintained by Word simply by choosing Properties from the File menu. One of the pieces of information maintained is the number of characters in the document. This information is updated whenever the document is saved or printed. You can insert this summary information into your document by following these steps if you are using a version of Word prior to Word 2007:

1. Position the insertion point where you want the number of characters to appear.
2. Choose Field from the Insert menu. Word displays the Field dialog box.
3. Choose Document Information as the field category. Word updates the choices in the Field Names list. (Click here to see a related figure.)
4. Select NumChars from the Field Names list.
5. Click on OK to close the dialog box and insert the field.

If you are using Word 2007, then you should follow these steps to insert the field:

1. Position the insertion point where you want the number of characters inserted.
2. Make sure the Insert tab of the ribbon is selected.
3. In the Text group, click Quick Parts. You'll see a drop-down menu.
4. Choose Field. Word displays the Field dialog box.
5. In the Categories drop-down list, choose Document Information.
6. In the Field Names list choose NumChars.
7. Click on OK to close the dialog box and insert your field.

You should note that the NumChars field returns a different value than what is returned by the FileSize field. The file size is invariably larger, as it includes space consumed by formatting and housekeeping information maintained by Word, whereas NumChars returns only a count of the text characters in your document.