Line Counter
Count lines in text or code: total, blank and non-blank lines, duplicates, the longest line and lines over a length limit, line by line.
Count the lines in any text, list or code snippet. As well as the total, you get blank and non-blank lines, unique and repeated lines, the longest line and how many lines run past a length limit such as 80 characters — handy for checking a list before an import, counting entries in a CSV export or keeping code inside a style guide’s line length.
How to use this tool
- Paste your text, list or code into the box.
- Set the line length limit you want to check against (80 characters by default).
- Choose whether duplicates should ignore surrounding spaces and upper/lower case.
- Use the tables to find repeated lines and lines that are too long.
Formula
Non-empty text: lines = line breaks + 1, minus 1 if text ends in a newline. Empty text has 0 lines.
A blank line is empty or contains only spaces or tabs. Line length is measured in visible characters, so an emoji or accented letter counts as one and a tab counts as one. Blank lines also count toward the maximum and limit. Long lines that merely wrap on screen are still single lines.
Example
The sample guest list has 9 lines: 8 with names and 1 blank. “Ben Carter” appears twice (lines 2 and 5), so there are 7 unique lines and 1 repeated copy to delete. The longest line is line 7 at 14 characters because of the spaces around “Emma Novak”, and no line is over the 80-character limit.
Frequently asked questions
Does a line break at the end of the text add a line?
No. Most editors and the Unix command wc -l treat a final newline as the end of the last line, not the start of a new one. The “Line breaks” row shows the raw number of newline characters, which is the number wc -l prints.
Are wrapped lines counted?
No. Only real line breaks start a new line, so a long paragraph that wraps across the screen is still one line.
How are duplicate lines found?
Non-blank lines are compared, by default after trimming spaces at each end and optionally ignoring case. “Unique lines” counts each distinct line once; “Repeated copies” is how many lines you would delete to leave one of each.
What line length limit should I use for code?
Python’s PEP 8 style guide limits lines to 79 characters, 80 is traditional for many C and shell projects, and some teams allow 100 or 120. Set the limit to match your project’s style guide.
Sources
Last updated: 2026-10-30