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Reading Time Calculator
Estimate how long a text takes to read at your own pace. Everything happens on this page, in your browser — nothing you enter is sent anywhere.
Average adult silent reading is roughly 200–250 words a minute; dense textbooks pull most people well below that.
How this tool works
Reading speed is not a fixed property of a person; it is a property of a person meeting a text. The same reader who moves at 280 words a minute through a novel may manage 140 through a physics chapter — which is why this calculator lets you set the speed instead of assuming it.
Using it, step by step
- Count the words — paste the text and let this page count, or type a count from your document software.
- Slide the speed down for dense, technical or second-language reading; up for familiar, light material.
- Read the estimate as a planning figure: a 3-hour estimate means start tonight, not tomorrow morning.
Where it stops
Estimates assume steady reading with no notes, highlighting or re-reading, all of which real study involves. For revision planning, add at least half as much again — the calculator gives you the floor, not the ceiling.