Inserting a Character Count

Word keeps track of summary information for a document. 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:

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. (Click here to see a related figure.)
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.