Google Docs Word Count as if Suggestions Were Accepted (Tutorial)

As someone who uses Google Docs frequently for editing writing, an annoying problem I've faced is that Google Docs word count is broken when dealing with suggested edits.

The Problem

Let's say you write 10 words like so:

Then you go into Suggestion mode and delete 3 words:

Now we check the word count by going Tools > Word Count or pressing Ctrl/Cmd + Shift + C. You might expect (or hope) to see 7 words as the word count.

But the Google Docs word count ignores our suggested edits, and there's no way to see the word count as if suggestions were applied.

Instead, Google Docs only shows the original 10 words, ignoring suggested insertions and deletions—treating suggestions as normal text.

This problem is frustrating, especially if your are trimming down text to meet a word count. Maybe you're a student trying to trim down an essay, a teacher giving feedback to help cut down words, or you're doing copy editing for an article.

Here's the solution to accurately count words in Google Docs, as if suggestions were applied.

How to Count Words in Google Docs with Suggestions Accepted

To fix this problem, I've developed a Chrome extension and Firefox add-on. Click the icons below to get the extension for your browser:

With this extension, you can open up the Word Count and three new word count sections are added to count words and characters as if suggestions are applied.

You can also pin the word count to the screen by checking "Display word count while typing", and from the dropdown you'll find a new "Words (suggestions accepted)" option:

As you can see above, the word count now takes into account suggested edits when being calculated.

If you're interested in trying out the Chrome extension, you can add it to Chrome here:

→ Get the Google Docs Suggestions Word Count Extension ←

Summary

Creating this extension was surprisingly tricky, as Google Docs uses canvas-based rendering instead of DOM rendering now.

But the extension works surprisingly well, and offers:

No longer do you have to tediously make a copy of a document, accept all suggestions, and then count words.

Note

The extension isn't perfect and notably may fail when selecting lots of text across multiple pages or using the pageless mode. But I'll be working to continually improve it over time, and I'm always open to feedback or suggestions.

With this solution, you'll be able to count words in Google Docs as if suggestions were accepted, a feature that's desperately missing from Google Docs.

I hope you find it helpful!