Word Count at bottom of page is incorrect

[Libby]

Hi all,

Very weird word count issue on my new Macbook Air. OS X 10.8.4, Mac Office 14.1.0.

I love the word count at the bottom of the page, and especially the feature that it tells you how many words you're up to, out of how many in total, so if you have notes after the main body of your work you don't have to keep highlighting the relevant section.

However, my document keeps telling me different things. The bottom-of-screen word count it is currently saying "6,548 words" but when I actually click on the word count the in-window count tells me 7,045. I pasted the whole lot into a new document, which then showed 7,045 as the bottom-of-screen count, so that's obviously the correct one.

This morning, first thing the document displayed over 7,000, but has now dropped, which is what made me realise it was wrong. Now though, nothing seems to be able to make the original document catch up, and when I add or delete words it counts upwards or downwards from 6,548.

I've tried unselecting and reselecting footnotes, but it just went down to 6,065 (which incidentally appears to be the correct footnoteless number, as the in-window count agrees with that) and then back up to the arbitrary 6,548.

Evidently my document can't "see" 500-odd words, but I'm at my wits' end trying to figure out why!

Obviously I can use a fresh document which has a consistent word count, but if there's a solution I'd like to know what it is so I know I can trust the count.

No tracked changes being used.

Thanks,

Libby

[libbygni...@gmail.com]

Just to add one more bizarre detail: I've just pasted the whole shebang into a word doc again, and the count changes by one single word. In the original, the word count is 7,045. In the pasted new version, it displays at the bottom of the screen as 7,046. When I click on it, it displays 7,045 in the window.

What the heck?!?! I'm tearing my hair out!

[Patty Winter]

In article <vilain-3368D0....@news.individual.net>,
Michael Vilain <vil...@NOspamcop.net> wrote:
>
>My advise is to let go of word count numbers and just friken write.
>Track the difference between start of work and end of work. Use
>whichever method you like to track this figure. Stay on your daily word
>count goal and stop looking at metrics.

Did Libby say she had a "daily word-count goal"? I didn't see that.
She may be writing to a template that has a maximum number of words.
I encounter that all the time in writing grant proposals and in
submissions for MOOCs.


Patty

[libbygni...@gmail.com]

Thanks everyone - it's a really bizarre bug and I can't find anyone else with it on t'internet so I shall do as you suggest and file a bug report with MS. Another strange thing is that if I click into a footnote and make even the smallest edit, such as backspace-space, when I return to the main body of the document, the word count is temporarily correct. Then it reverts pretty much instantly. Weird.

> My advise is to let go of word count numbers and just friken write.
> Track the difference between start of work and end of work. Use
> whichever method you like to track this figure. Stay on your daily word
> count goal and stop looking at metrics.

> If this was a cholesterol or blood pressure number, I figure you're the
> type who would obsess about that too. Just let it go.

> Worry about something important. Like NSA spying on you or global
> warming.

Thanks for this valuable advice Michael. Sadly, my desire for a correct document word count is neither a personal fetish of mine nor a dogmatic eccentricity, but in fact a regulation on my Master's dissertation imposed by my university. I will be sure to pass your suggestion on to them.

[althaf....@gmail.com]

Hey. I have the same bug. As soon as I open my document, the word count seems to be working. But a bit later, it goes bonkers!

[mr.t.c...@googlemail.com]

I'm also having the same problem. If anyone has any insight they would be very much appreciated.

[Michael Vilain]

This is really late in the game, but I stumbled across this Automator workflow that may offer you an alternative to Word's inaccurate word count.

http://osxdaily.com/2014/01/27/word-character-counter-service-mac-os-x/

Hope it helps.

[aykuto...@gmail.com]

27 Ocak 2014 Pazartesi 22:34:16 UTC-5 tarihinde Michael Vilain yazdı:

I have the same bug guys. Can it be something related to header? Do you use headers?

[dunphyconsul...@gmail.com]

Perhaps no one will care about this anymore. I have to have an accurate wordcount for a book I'm under contract for. Seven out of 8 chapters, the bottom-of-the-page and the wordcount in the Tools menu jive, but not in the first chapter and I haven't a clue. OS X El Capitan 10.11.6 and Mac for Word 14.7.7. Has this been figured out?

[danthe...@gmail.com]

IT would probably be best to use an online word count if the one in your word application seems to be incorrect. Simply just search "word count" in google and see the multiple free services pop up where you can simply paste all your text (or parts of it) to see your word count. Some websites also offer extra features for free such as how many times a certain word is used or what level of writing the text is. Hope this helps anyone that stumbles across this page in the future!

[Pat Owen]

Not sure if this thread has closed as it’s now 29 April 2021! I’m using iPad pro, 14.3 software.
I’ve just found this thread while editing poems, trying to understand why my two versions of the same poem have a different word count - one is 315, the other 318 words. Does one version have a tweak I can’t spot? After multiple readings fail, I then literally count the words in each stanza of each poem and find they are identical.
I then do the maths, add up the total words of all stanzas, both poems have 298 words.
This is a BIG error ratio - and a big waste of time.
Why has this not been fixed by 2021???

Answers most welcome!