The quick answer
With the standard settings most schools and publishers use (a 12-point font such as Times New Roman or Arial, 1-inch margins on US Letter or A4 paper), one page holds roughly:
- 500 words when single-spaced
- 250 words when double-spaced
- about 330 words with 1.5 line spacing
These are averages for ordinary prose. A page full of dialogue, short paragraphs or headings holds fewer words; a page of dense academic writing holds more.
Words to pages
| Word count | Single-spaced | Double-spaced |
|---|---|---|
| 250 words | ½ page | 1 page |
| 500 words | 1 page | 2 pages |
| 750 words | 1½ pages | 3 pages |
| 1,000 words | 2 pages | 4 pages |
| 1,500 words | 3 pages | 6 pages |
| 2,000 words | 4 pages | 8 pages |
| 2,500 words | 5 pages | 10 pages |
| 5,000 words | 10 pages | 20 pages |
| 10,000 words | 20 pages | 40 pages |
Pages to words
If your assignment is given in pages, multiply by 500 for single spacing or 250 for double spacing. A 5-page double-spaced essay is about 1,250 words, and a 10-page double-spaced paper is about 2,500 words. Your title page, reference list and appendices normally don't count toward the page total, so leave them out when you check your length.
What changes the number of words per page
Font and font size
Fonts take up different amounts of space even at the same point size. Arial and Calibri are wider than Times New Roman, so a page of Arial holds a little less text. Switching from 12-point to 11-point adds roughly 15–20% more words per page, and 10-point adds about 40%. That's why most instructors specify both the font and the size.
| Font size (single-spaced) | Approximate words per page |
|---|---|
| 10 pt | 700 |
| 11 pt | 590 |
| 12 pt | 500 |
| 14 pt | 380 |
Line spacing and margins
Double spacing halves the number of lines on a page. Margins matter too: going from 1-inch to 1.25-inch side margins (Microsoft Word's old default) removes about 8% of the text width.
Paragraphs, headings and lists
Every paragraph break leaves part of a line empty, and headings, bullet points and block quotes use extra space. A blog post with short paragraphs fills pages much faster than an essay with long ones.
Handwriting
Handwritten pages vary hugely, but on lined A4 or letter paper most people fit 200–300 words per page.
Why teachers and editors use word counts instead
Because pages are so easy to stretch, with bigger fonts, wider margins or extra spacing, most universities, journals and publishers now set limits in words. Word counts are also the norm for online writing, where there are no pages at all. If you're given a page limit, ask which font, size and spacing are expected, and then check your word count against the table above.
How to check your length
- Paste your draft into the word counter to get an exact word count.
- Divide by 500 (single-spaced) or 250 (double-spaced) to estimate pages.
- Use the word goal setting to track your progress toward a target length as you write.
Need to check balance as well as length? The paragraph counter shows how many words each paragraph contains, so you can spot sections that are running long.