To see how many words are in a Google Docs document, follow these steps: On a computer (desktop or laptop):

• Open your Google Docs file.
• Click on the "Tools" menu at the top.
• Select "Word count" from the dropdown menu.
• A pop-up will appear showing the number of pages, words, characters, and characters excluding spaces.
• Alternatively, use the keyboard shortcut:
  • On Windows: Ctrl + Shift + C
  • On Mac: Command + Shift + C
• You can also check the box in the pop-up to "Display word count while typing," which shows a live word count in the bottom left corner of the document as you type

On mobile devices (Android or iOS):

• Open the Google Docs app and your document.
• Tap the three-dot menu icon in the upper right corner.
• Tap "Word count" to see the number of words, characters, and characters excluding spaces.
• You can highlight a section of text to see the word count for just that selection

Additional tips:

• You can check the word count for a selected portion of text by highlighting it first, then opening the word count dialog.
• Google Docs excludes words in headers, footers, and footnotes from the word count.
• The word count includes some words in URLs and counts em dashes but not symbols like "<" or ">"

This feature helps you track your writing length easily, whether for essays, articles, or other documents.