Lorem Ipsum Generator

Set the options, press the button and copy the result. The text is built on your device each time you generate it, so nothing you choose is uploaded.

1. Enter a number in How many, from 1 to 200. The default is 3.
2. Choose the Unit: Paragraphs, Sentences or Words.
3. Leave Start with "Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet" ticked for the familiar opening, or untick it for a passage drawn entirely at random.
4. Tick Wrap paragraphs in <p> tags if you want each paragraph as an HTML element. It only affects the Paragraphs unit.
5. Press Generate text. Press it again for a different passage of the same length.
6. Use Copy to put the text on your clipboard, or Download .txt to save it as a file.

The generator draws words at random from a pool of 93 Latin-looking words, using your browser's secure random number source, so no two runs match and a result cannot be reproduced later. It then builds the text in layers:

A worked example: three paragraphs of about 60 words each give roughly 180 words, though any single run can fall anywhere between 84 and 315. With the opening option ticked, the first paragraph starts with the 19-word line Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. followed by its normal sentences. In Sentences mode that line replaces the first sentence, and in Words mode the first words follow it and are cut off at your count.

Because the words are drawn independently, the same word can appear twice in a row, and nothing after the opening line is grammatical Latin. That is fine for judging layout, and it is also why the text should never be treated as copy.

Keep the opening line when you show a design to a client, because it signals placeholder at a glance. Untick it when you generate several blocks for one page, otherwise each block starts with the same sentence and the repetition shows up in a grid of cards. For a quick wrapping test the Words unit is enough: about 3 words for a button, 8 for a heading and 25 for an excerpt are realistic starting points.

The standard passage traces back to a work on ethics by Cicero from 45 BC, which a printer scrambled into a type specimen centuries ago. Designers still use it because its word lengths resemble English, so a block of it wraps and spaces much like finished prose without inviting anyone to edit the sentences.

• Match the real length. Estimate the words the final page will hold, generate that many, and confirm with the word counter. A headline or button label can be checked with the character counter.
• Test short and long extremes. A card title that fits at three words may break at twelve.
• Use the HTML option for templates. It saves wrapping each paragraph by hand, and the HTML formatter will tidy the result if you paste it into a larger file.
• Fill people and names too. Real interfaces contain names as well as paragraphs, and the random name generator supplies them.

There are limits. Latin-style filler does not behave like Arabic, Hindi or German, whose line breaks and word lengths differ, and it cannot show how a screen reader or search engine will treat real copy. Before launch, search the finished site for the words lorem and ipsum, because placeholder text left on a live page looks careless and counts as thin content.