Google Docs now displays the word count as you type
Finally.
One of the most frustrating things about Google Docs is having to manually access the menu every time you need to check if you've finally hit that essay's elusive word count. The tech giant is finally fixing that by giving you the ability to display a document's word count in its lower left corner. Similar to Microsoft Word's version, it updates the numbers in real time, so you can feel sweet, instant relief the moment you conquer your task. Further, you can see how long specific sections are by highlighting them.
To activate the feature, simply check "Display word count while typing" under Tools. When you click on the lower left corner where the numbers are, you can also view a panel with more information. It includes the document's character count (both with and without spaces), as well as the page count if you need to know if you have enough paper to print it out. Google says the feature is rolling out to all Google users and can be disabled in case you want to write without having to worry about how long the piece is getting.
