The word count on the status bar may intermittently dim or may not be available in Office Word 2007 and Word 2010

To work around this behavior, turn off the word count on the status bar. To do this, right-click the status bar, and then click to clear the Word Count check box.

To turn on the word count on the status bar, right-click the status bar, and then click to select the Word Count check box.

To use the word count feature when the word count on the status bar is turned off, click the Review tab, and then click the word count icon in the Proofing group. The Word Count dialog box appears.

To view the Word Count dialog box when the word count on the status bar is turned on, click the word count on the status bar.