How Many Words Per Page on Word?
How Many Words Per Page on Word?
A standard Microsoft Word page holds about 250 words when double-spaced, or roughly 500 words single-spaced, using the default 12pt Calibri or Times New Roman with 1-inch margins.
That's the short answer. The longer answer depends on font, spacing, and margins, and small tweaks shift your count more than you'd expect.
The Default Word Page
When you open a fresh Word document, you get these defaults:
- Font: Calibri 11pt (Microsoft 365) or Times New Roman 12pt (older templates)
- Margins: 1 inch on all sides
- Spacing: 1.08 line spacing with 8pt after each paragraph
- Paper size: 8.5 x 11 inches (US Letter)
With those settings, expect around 400–450 words per page. Switch to true single spacing and that climbs to 500. Set it to double-spaced and you're looking at 250.
Words Per Page by Spacing
Here's what changes when you adjust line spacing on a default Word page:
Single-spaced (1.0)
About 500 words per page. Common for business memos, resumes, and most professional documents.
1.5 spacing
About 330 words per page. A middle ground used for some reports and longer-form professional writing.
Double-spaced (2.0)
About 250 words per page. The standard for academic essays, manuscripts, and most school assignments.
Words Per Page by Font
Font matters more than students realize. Calibri 11pt is narrower than Times New Roman 12pt, so a Calibri page holds more text.
| Font | Single-spaced | Double-spaced |
|---|---|---|
| Calibri 11pt | ~500 | ~250 |
| Times New Roman 12pt | ~475 | ~240 |
| Arial 12pt | ~470 | ~235 |
| Courier New 12pt | ~325 | ~165 |
| Verdana 12pt | ~430 | ~215 |
Courier New is the outlier. It's a monospaced font, so every letter takes the same width. That's why screenwriters use it. A 90-page screenplay in Courier 12pt runs about one page per minute of screen time.
Margins Move the Needle
Bumping your margins from 1 inch to 1.25 inches drops your word count per page by roughly 10–15%. Going the other way, narrow 0.5-inch margins push a double-spaced page from 250 words up to about 320.
If your professor asks for a 5-page paper, switching from 1-inch to 1.25-inch margins means you owe them roughly one extra paragraph to hit the same word target. Worth knowing before you submit.
A Worked Example
Say you've been assigned a 1,500-word essay and your professor wants double-spaced Times New Roman 12pt with 1-inch margins. That's about 240 words per page, so you're writing roughly 6.25 pages.
If you instead use the MS Word default (Calibri 11pt, 1.08 spacing), the same 1,500 words shrinks to about 3.5 pages. Same content. Half the page count. This is why word count is the honest metric, not page count.
When Page Count Lies
Page count varies with:
- Headings and subheadings (they eat vertical space)
- Block quotes and indented text
- Tables, images, and charts
- Bulleted lists (more line breaks than running prose)
- Footnotes and references
- Header and footer content
Two students can hand in "5 pages" with one having written 1,200 words and the other 1,800. That's why word count is what most rubrics and submission portals actually check.
Quick Estimates by Assignment
If your professor gave you a page count instead of a word count, here's what they likely mean (double-spaced, 12pt, 1-inch margins):
- 1 page: 250 words
- 2 pages: 500 words
- 3 pages: 750 words
- 5 pages: 1,250 words
- 10 pages: 2,500 words
- 20 pages: 5,000 words
For single-spaced documents (cover letters, professional memos), double those numbers.
Check Your Real Count in Word
Word has a built-in counter. On Windows, click the word count in the status bar at the bottom. On Mac, go to Tools > Word Count. You'll get total words, characters with and without spaces, paragraphs, and lines.
If you only want the count for a section, highlight it first. Word will show the selected count alongside the document total.
The Honest Answer
When someone asks how many words fit on a Word page, the only correct response is: it depends on what you set. But for the most common student case (double-spaced, 12pt, 1-inch margins), 250 words per page is the number to memorize.