Why Count Lines?
Line counting is a simple but important task in many professional contexts:
- Code metrics: Lines of code (LOC) is a common metric for estimating project size and complexity.
- Data validation: Verify that a CSV or TSV file has the expected number of rows before import.
- Log analysis: Count the number of log entries in a pasted log excerpt.
- Poetry and lyrics: Count stanzas or bars in creative writing.
- Transcription: Check that a transcription has the correct number of dialogue lines.
- Billing for freelancers: Some translators and editors charge per line — quickly count lines to estimate fees.
Line Count vs Non-Empty Line Count
- Total lines: Every line including completely blank ones.
- Non-empty lines: Only lines that contain at least one character (space counts as content in some modes).
- Blank lines: Total lines minus non-empty lines.
How to Count Lines Online
1Open the Line Counter tool.
2Paste or type your text.
3See the total line count, non-empty lines, word count, and character count instantly.
💡 Terminal Alternative: On Linux/Mac, use
wc -l filename.txt to count lines. On Windows PowerShell: (Get-Content filename.txt).Count. For quick pastes, the online tool is faster.How Lines Are Counted
Lines are separated by newline characters (\n on Unix/Mac, \r\n on Windows). Our tool correctly handles both formats. If your text has no trailing newline, the last line is still counted.
FAQ
Does a blank last line count as a line?
It depends on the tool. Our line counter counts a trailing empty line as a line (since most text editors do the same). This is consistent with how wc -l works on Linux.
What's a good lines-of-code target for a function?
Clean code guidelines suggest functions should be 20–30 lines maximum. Large functions are harder to test and understand — consider refactoring anything over 50 lines.