Words to Pages Calculator

How to Calculate Pages From Words

When a teacher or professor assigns an essay with a strict page count (e.g., "Write a 5-page paper"), the first question every student asks is: How many words is that?

Because word processors like Microsoft Word or Google Docs display word counts at the bottom of the screen, it is much easier to track your progress by words rather than pages. Our calculator helps bridge this gap. By selecting your formatting settings (Font, Size, and Spacing), you can instantly see exactly how many pages your current word count will fill.

Standard Academic Formatting (MLA & APA)

If you are writing a paper for high school or university, you will almost certainly be asked to follow either MLA (Modern Language Association) or APA (American Psychological Association) formatting guidelines.

While there are minor differences between the two, their basic page formatting rules are identical. Both require:

• Font: 12pt Times New Roman (or a similarly legible serif font).
• Spacing: Double-spaced text throughout the entire document.
• Margins: 1-inch margins on all sides (top, bottom, left, and right).

When using this standard academic format, a single page will contain approximately 250 words.

How Font Choice Affects Page Length

It might be tempting to use a slightly larger font to hit your page count faster, but professors are well aware of this trick! Different fonts take up different amounts of physical space on the page, even at the same point size.

For example, 12pt Arial is physically wider than 12pt Times New Roman. If you write a 1,000-word essay double-spaced:

• In Times New Roman (12pt), it will be exactly 4 pages.
• In Arial (12pt), it will stretch to roughly 4.4 pages.
• In Calibri (11pt) (the default font in modern Microsoft Word), it will be about 3.8 pages.

Single Spaced vs. Double Spaced

The spacing you choose cuts your word-per-page count exactly in half. A single-spaced page in 12pt Times New Roman holds roughly 500 words. A double-spaced page holds roughly 250 words.

If you are writing a novel or a book manuscript, the industry standard is to estimate 250 to 300 words per printed page, which aligns closely with double-spaced academic formatting.