Email Length
Estimate an email's total size, characters and read time.
About Email Length
Summing the subject and body words sizes the email, then a five-character average and a 200-wpm read rate model it. Concise emails get answered faster, so sizing length and read time highlights where a message can be tightened.
Formula
Email Length
Total words = subject + body; chars = words x 5; read time = words / 3.33
- read rate
- About 200 words per minute of reading
Worked example
With the default values below, Email Length returns Total Words of 205. Change any input above and every figure here is recalculated in your browser.
Inputs used
- Subject wordsminimum 0
- 5
- Body wordsminimum 0
- 200
Results
- Total Words
- 205
- Estimated Characters
- 1,025
- Read Time
- 61.5 s
Step by step
- 1Values used
- 2Email Length
- 3Total Words= 205
- 4Estimated Characters= 1,025
- 5Read Time= 61.5 s
Assumptions and limits
- The result is derived only from the 2 inputs listed above. Anything not among them is not part of the calculation.
- In particular, this calculator does not take inflation, tax, fees or charges or compounding frequency into account.
- Figures are rounded for display to 1 decimal place, so totals built from several rounded parts can differ slightly from the unrounded arithmetic.
How these calculators are built and tested is described on the Methodology page. If a figure looks wrong, please report it.
Frequently Asked Questions
How is Email Length calculated?
Total words = subject + body; chars = words x 5; read time = words / 3.33 Summing the subject and body words sizes the email, then a five-character average and a 200-wpm read rate model it.
Why does Email Length matter?
Concise emails get answered faster, so sizing length and read time highlights where a message can be tightened.
What values do I need to enter?
This calculator takes 2 inputs: Subject words, Body words. The pre-filled defaults are a realistic starting point — replace them with figures from your own environment for a result you can act on.