Letter Counter
Count letters instantly with this free online Letter Counter. See words, vowels, consonants, unique letters, and more as you type.
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Additional Letter Statistics
How to Count Letters in Text
Type or paste your text into the Letter Counter above. Your letter count and related statistics update automatically as you type.
The tool shows the total number of letters, characters, words, average letters per word, vowels, consonants, unique letters, English letters, non-English letters, non-letter characters, and spaces.
If you need a broader text analysis tool, use our Character Counter . If you only need to count words, try our Word Counter .
What Counts as a Letter?
A letter is a written character used as part of an alphabet or writing system. This Letter Counter counts Unicode characters that are classified as letters instead of limiting the count to only A through Z.
This means accented letters such as é, ñ, å, ü, and ç are counted as letters. Letters from many other writing systems can also be counted.
Numbers, spaces, punctuation marks, emojis, and most symbols are not included in the letter count.
Letter Count Examples
| Text | Letters | Characters | Spaces |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hello | 5 | 5 | 0 |
| Hello, world! | 10 | 13 | 1 |
| Café déjà | 8 | 9 | 1 |
| ABC 123 | 3 | 7 | 1 |
Letters vs. Characters
Letters and characters are not the same thing. Every letter is a character, but not every character is a letter.
Spaces, numbers, punctuation marks, emojis, and symbols may contribute to the character count even though they do not increase the letter count.
For example, Hello, world! contains 10 letters but 13 characters because the comma, space, and exclamation point are characters but not letters.
For a dedicated character count, use our Character Counter .
When Would You Use a Letter Counter?
A Letter Counter is useful when you need to count alphabetic letters instead of every character in a piece of text.
Common uses include checking letter-based requirements, analyzing names or phrases, solving word games and puzzles, completing language exercises, and comparing the length and structure of different passages.
It can also be useful when a character count is not specific enough because your text contains spaces, punctuation, numbers, or symbols that should not be included in the result.
Average Letters per Word
Average Letters per Word shows the average number of letters in the words in your text.
For example, if your text contains four words with a combined total of 20 letters, the average is 5 letters per word.
This statistic can be useful for comparing the typical word length of different passages of text.
Vowels and Consonants
The Letter Counter also separates Latin letters into vowels and consonants.
The letters A, E, I, O, and U are treated as vowels. Other Latin alphabet letters are treated as consonants.
Common accented forms are grouped with their basic Latin letter when possible. For example, é can be treated like e for the vowel count.
You can also use our dedicated Vowel Counter or Consonant Counter .
What Are Unique Letters?
Unique Letters tells you how many different letters appear in your text instead of how many total letters were entered.
Uppercase and lowercase versions of the same letter are treated as the same letter for this statistic.
For example, the word letter contains 6 total letters but only 4 unique letters: l, e, t, and r.
English Letters vs. Non-English Letters
The English Letters statistic counts only the 26 basic letters A through Z. Uppercase and lowercase forms are both included.
Non-English Letters counts letters that are classified as letters but fall outside basic A-Z. This can include accented letters such as ñ, é, ü, and ø, along with letters from other writing systems.
For example, Jalapeño contains 8 total letters: 7 English letters and 1 non-English letter, the ñ.
Non-English letters are not converted into their closest English equivalent. For example, ñ is not automatically counted as n, and é is not automatically counted as e for these two statistics.
Alphabet Counter for A-Z Letters
You can also use this tool as an alphabet counter to count letters from A to Z. The English Letters statistic counts only the 26 letters of the English alphabet.
The main Letters total is broader because it can also count accented letters and letters from other alphabets and writing systems. This lets you see both the total letter count and the number of English alphabet letters in the same text.
For example, Jalapeño contains 8 total letters but 7 English alphabet letters because ñ is not one of the 26 A-Z letters.
What Are Non-Letter Characters?
Non-Letter Characters are characters in your text that are not classified as letters.
This can include spaces, numbers, punctuation, symbols, and emojis.
For example, in Hello!, the exclamation point is a non-letter character.
Does the Letter Counter Count Spaces?
Spaces are not included in the Letter count because a space is not a letter.
The separate Spaces statistic above shows how many standard space characters appear in your text.
Spaces still contribute to the overall Characters total.
How Can I Count the Frequency of Each Letter?
This page focuses on the total number of letters and related letter statistics.
If you want to see exactly how many times each individual letter appears, use our Letter Frequency Counter .
The Letter Frequency Counter is useful when you need a detailed breakdown of the letters used most and least often in a passage.
How Many Letters Are in the English Alphabet?
The modern English alphabet contains 26 letters, from A through Z.
Each letter has an uppercase and lowercase form. Five letters are traditionally classified as vowels: A, E, I, O, and U. The remaining 21 letters are consonants.
Does Microsoft Word Count Letters?
Microsoft Word provides statistics such as words, characters, paragraphs, and lines, but it does not provide a dedicated Letter count in the same way this tool does.
A character count is different from a letter count because characters can include spaces, numbers, punctuation, and symbols.
For more information, see our guide to character count in Microsoft Word .
Does Google Docs Count Letters?
Google Docs provides word and character statistics, but it does not offer a dedicated letter-count statistic.
You can copy your text from Google Docs and paste it into the Letter Counter above to count only the letters.
You can also read our guide to character count in Google Docs .
Related Letter and Text Tools
You may also find these CharacterCounter.com tools useful:
Letter Counter FAQ
How do I count letters online?
Type or paste your text into the Letter Counter. The total number of letters updates automatically as you type.
Can I use this as an alphabet counter?
Yes. The English Letters statistic works as an alphabet counter for the 26 letters A through Z. It excludes accented and non-English letters, while the main Letters count can include supported Unicode letters from other alphabets and writing systems.
Do spaces count as letters?
No. Spaces are characters, but they are not letters and therefore are not included in the Letter count.
Do numbers count as letters?
No. Digits such as 0 through 9 are not counted as letters.
Does punctuation count as letters?
No. Periods, commas, apostrophes, question marks, exclamation points, and other punctuation marks are not included in the Letter count.
Are accented letters counted?
Yes. Unicode letters such as é, ñ, å, ü, and ç are counted in the total Letters statistic.
What counts as an English letter?
The English Letters statistic counts only letters A through Z, including both uppercase and lowercase forms.
What counts as a non-English letter?
Non-English Letters counts letters outside basic A-Z, including accented letters and letters from other writing systems.
Does ñ count as an English N?
No. For the English Letters and Non-English Letters statistics, ñ is treated as a non-English letter rather than being converted to N.
Are uppercase and lowercase letters both counted?
Yes. Both uppercase and lowercase letters are included in the total Letter count.
What is average letters per word?
Average Letters per Word is the average number of letters contained in the words in your text.
What are non-letter characters?
Non-letter characters are characters that are not letters, such as spaces, digits, punctuation marks, symbols, and emojis.
What is the difference between letters and characters?
Letters are one type of character. A character count may also include spaces, numbers, punctuation marks, symbols, emojis, and other characters that are not letters.