diff --git a/src/components/Inspector.test.tsx b/src/components/Inspector.test.tsx
index 515b6674..330c0b24 100644
--- a/src/components/Inspector.test.tsx
+++ b/src/components/Inspector.test.tsx
@@ -129,10 +129,10 @@ describe('Inspector', () => {
     expect(pill).toHaveStyle({ borderRadius: '16px' })
   })
 
-  it('computes word count from content minus frontmatter', () => {
+  it('computes word count from content minus frontmatter and title', () => {
     render(<Inspector {...defaultProps} entry={mockEntry} content={mockContent} />)
-    // "Test Project" (# stripped) + "This is a test note with some words to count." = 12 words
-    expect(screen.getByText('12')).toBeInTheDocument()
+    // Title "# Test Project" excluded; body: "This is a test note with some words to count." = 10 words
+    expect(screen.getByText('10')).toBeInTheDocument()
   })
 
   it('shows "Add property" button as disabled placeholder', () => {
diff --git a/src/utils/wikilinks.test.ts b/src/utils/wikilinks.test.ts
index 33161dcf..7eac7bf0 100644
--- a/src/utils/wikilinks.test.ts
+++ b/src/utils/wikilinks.test.ts
@@ -222,10 +222,9 @@ describe('countWords', () => {
       '',
       'Only these five words count.',
     ].join('\n')
-    // Body: "# My Note\n\nOnly these five words count."
-    // After stripping '#': " My Note\n\nOnly these five words count."
-    // Words: My, Note, Only, these, five, words, count. = 7
-    expect(countWords(content)).toBe(7)
+    // Title "# My Note" is excluded from word count
+    // Body: "Only these five words count." = 5 words
+    expect(countWords(content)).toBe(5)
   })
 
   it('ignores frontmatter values containing dashes', () => {
@@ -254,15 +253,47 @@ describe('countWords', () => {
       '',
       'After the rule.',
     ].join('\n')
-    // Body includes: Title, Before, the, rule., After, the, rule.
-    // The --- horizontal rule is stripped by the markdown char filter
-    expect(countWords(content)).toBe(7)
+    // Title "# Title" is excluded; body: Before, the, rule., After, the, rule. = 6
+    expect(countWords(content)).toBe(6)
   })
 
   it('returns 0 when content is only frontmatter with no trailing body', () => {
     const content = '---\ntitle: Hello\nstatus: Active\ntags: [a, b, c]\n---'
     expect(countWords(content)).toBe(0)
   })
+
+  it('excludes title heading from word count', () => {
+    const content = '---\ntitle: Hello World\n---\n\n# Hello World\n\nThree body words.'
+    expect(countWords(content)).toBe(3)
+  })
+
+  it('counts correctly when no title heading is present', () => {
+    const content = '---\ntitle: Test\n---\n\nFour words in body.'
+    expect(countWords(content)).toBe(4)
+  })
+
+  it('excludes wikilinks from word count', () => {
+    const content = '---\ntitle: Test\n---\n\n# Test\n\nSee [[My Note]] for details.'
+    // Title excluded, wikilink excluded: See, for, details. = 3
+    expect(countWords(content)).toBe(3)
+  })
+
+  it('excludes multiple wikilinks from word count', () => {
+    const content = 'Check [[note-a]] and [[note-b]] here.'
+    // wikilinks excluded: Check, and, here. = 3
+    expect(countWords(content)).toBe(3)
+  })
+
+  it('returns 0 for note with only title and no body', () => {
+    const content = '---\ntitle: Empty\n---\n\n# Empty\n'
+    expect(countWords(content)).toBe(0)
+  })
+
+  it('does not strip ## or ### subheadings as title', () => {
+    const content = '---\ntitle: Test\n---\n\n## Subheading\n\nBody text here.'
+    // ## is not a title heading; "Subheading" counts: Subheading, Body, text, here. = 4
+    expect(countWords(content)).toBe(4)
+  })
 })
 
 describe('restoreWikilinksInBlocks', () => {
diff --git a/src/utils/wikilinks.ts b/src/utils/wikilinks.ts
index dbbc25fc..0bbfe242 100644
--- a/src/utils/wikilinks.ts
+++ b/src/utils/wikilinks.ts
@@ -106,7 +106,9 @@ export function splitFrontmatter(content: string): [string, string] {
 
 export function countWords(content: string): number {
   const [, body] = splitFrontmatter(content)
-  const text = body.replace(/[#*_[\]`>~\-|]/g, '').trim()
+  const withoutTitle = body.replace(/^\s*# [^\n]+\n?/, '')
+  const withoutWikilinks = withoutTitle.replace(/\[\[[^\]]*\]\]/g, '')
+  const text = withoutWikilinks.replace(/[#*_[\]`>~\-|]/g, '').trim()
   if (!text) return 0
   return text.split(/\s+/).filter(Boolean).length
 }