A Visual Studio Code extension that shows word and character counts for Markdown files, with per-field breakdowns for YAML frontmatter.
When a Markdown file is active, the current word count appears in the status bar:
123 Words
The count updates live as you type and excludes Markdown syntax — heading markers, bold/italic markers, code blocks, inline code, images, HTML tags, and list markers are all stripped before counting, so only prose words are counted.
When you select text, the status bar shows both the full document word count and the selection word count:
123 / 14 Words
The selection count updates as you adjust the selection and disappears when the selection is cleared. Multiple non-contiguous selections (multi-cursor) are counted together. The hover tooltip also gains a Selection: N words, N chars line when text is selected.
You can set a minimum and/or maximum word count target. When a limit is configured, the status bar text changes color to indicate whether you are within your target:
- Below minimum — shown in red (default
#f44747) until the minimum is reached. - In range — shown in green (default
#89d185) once the minimum is met and the maximum has not been exceeded. - Above maximum — shown in red (default
#f44747) once the maximum is exceeded.
When both a minimum and maximum are set, a directional arrow also appears after the count:
↓ 87 Words (below minimum — write more)
123 Words (in range — no arrow)
↑ 201 Words (above maximum — trim it down)
All three colors are fully configurable to match your theme. See Extension Settings below.
You can also set word count limits on a per-document basis by adding min-word-count or max-word-count to the file's YAML frontmatter:
---
min-word-count: 500
max-word-count: 1000
---Frontmatter limits take priority over the workspace settings for that file. This is useful when different documents in the same workspace have different length targets.
Hovering over the status bar item shows a detailed breakdown:
Content: 123 words, 842 chars
Frontmatter:
title: 3 words, 18 chars
description: 12 words, 74 chars
Run Markdown Word Count: Show Details from the Command Palette (Ctrl+Shift+P / Cmd+Shift+P) to see the same breakdown as a notification message.
The extension parses YAML frontmatter delimited by --- at the start of the file. Each scalar field is counted separately, making it easy to track word counts for titles, descriptions, and other metadata fields alongside your content.
Multi-line scalar values and quoted strings are handled correctly. Array and object fields are parsed as keys but their word counts will reflect the raw YAML, not nested structure.
VS Code 1.115.0 or newer.
| Setting | Type | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
markdownWordCount.minWordCount |
number | 0 |
Minimum word count target. Set above 0 to enable. The status bar turns red below this count and green once it is reached. |
markdownWordCount.maxWordCount |
number | 0 |
Maximum word count limit. Set above 0 to enable. The status bar turns red once this count is exceeded. |
markdownWordCount.colorBelowMin |
string | #f44747 |
Status bar text color when the word count is below the minimum. |
markdownWordCount.colorInRange |
string | #89d185 |
Status bar text color when the word count is within the configured range. |
markdownWordCount.colorAboveMax |
string | #f44747 |
Status bar text color when the word count exceeds the maximum. |
Color settings accept hex color values (e.g. #f44747). Setting a limit to 0 disables it; when no limits are set the status bar uses the default theme color with no arrows.
None.
See CHANGELOG.md for the full release history.