Count items, honestly
The tool splits on newlines and applies two toggles. Skip empty (on by default) filters out blank and whitespace-only lines before counting - the "real" item count. Turn it off to count every line including blanks. Trim (on by default) decides whether whitespace-only lines count as empty.
When your input has blank lines and Skip empty is on, the output shows both numbers: `Length: 4 items (5 lines including 1 empty)`. That way you never have to guess whether the count reflects blanks or not.
For richer list analysis (unique count, duplicate count, length stats), use List statistics. This tool is the minimal "how many items?" variant.
How to use count items in a list
- 1Paste your list into the input panel
- 2Toggle Skip empty to include or exclude blank lines (default: skip)
- 3Toggle Trim to control whether whitespace-only lines count as blank (default: trim)
- 4Output shows the count; line totals are appended when blanks were skipped
- 5For more stats, use List statistics
Keyboard shortcuts
Drive ListShift without touching the mouse.
What this counter actually does
Two toggles, one number out.
Counts non-blank lines by default
With Skip empty on, the output number is the count of lines that have actual content. This is usually what "how many items in my list" means.
Shows blank-line totals when relevant
When your input contains blank lines that were skipped, the output includes the full line count in parentheses so you know the breakdown - e.g. `Length: 4 items (5 lines including 1 empty)`.
Trim controls what counts as "empty"
With Trim on (default), a line with only spaces or tabs counts as empty. Off, only a completely-empty line counts - whitespace-only lines count as real items.
Toggle Skip empty off for total line count
When you genuinely want to count every line regardless of content, turn Skip empty off. The output will be the raw split line count including blanks.
Runs in your browser
No server round-trip. Works offline once the page is loaded.
Worked example
Four non-blank lines, one blank. Skip empty on (default), Trim on (default).
Apple Banana Cherry Date
Length: 4 items (5 lines including 1 empty)
Settings reference
How each toggle affects the output on the sample.
| Setting | What it does | Effect on the sample |
|---|---|---|
| Skip empty: on (default) | Excludes blank/whitespace-only lines from count | `Length: 4 items (5 lines including 1 empty)` |
| Skip empty: off | Counts every line including blanks | `Length: 5 items (5 lines including 1 empty)` (parenthetical still shows because there was a blank in the input) |
| Trim: on (default) | Whitespace-only lines count as empty | No change on the sample (blank line is already whitespace-only) |
| Trim: off | Only completely-empty lines count as empty | If blank line had a stray space, it would now count as an item |