diff --git a/src/constants.ts b/src/constants.ts
index 75aec20..bc0b177 100644
--- a/src/constants.ts
+++ b/src/constants.ts
@@ -2,3 +2,10 @@ export const VIEW_TYPE_STATS = "vault-stats";
 export const STATS_FILE = ".vault-stats";
 export const STATS_ICON = `<g transform="matrix(0.95,0,0,0.95,2.5,2.5)"><path fill="currentColor" stroke="currentColor" d="M3.77,100L22.421,100C24.503,100 26.19,98.013 26.19,95.561L26.19,34.813C26.19,32.361 24.503,30.374 22.421,30.374L3.77,30.374C1.688,30.374 -0,32.361 -0,34.813L-0,95.561C-0,98.013 1.688,100 3.77,100ZM40.675,100L59.325,100C61.408,100 63.095,98.013 63.095,95.561L63.095,4.439C63.095,1.987 61.408,-0 59.325,-0L40.675,-0C38.592,-0 36.905,1.987 36.905,4.439L36.905,95.561C36.905,98.013 38.592,100 40.675,100ZM77.579,100L96.23,100C98.312,100 100,98.013 100,95.561L100,46.495C100,44.043 98.312,42.056 96.23,42.056L77.579,42.056C75.497,42.056 73.81,44.043 73.81,46.495L73.81,95.561C73.81,98.013 75.497,100 77.579,100Z" style="fill:none;fill-rule:nonzero;stroke-width:8px;"/></g>`;
 export const STATS_ICON_NAME = "stats-graph";
+export const MATCH_COMMENT = new RegExp(
+  "<!--[\\s\\S]*?(?:-->)?" +
+    "<!---+>?" +
+    "|<!(?![dD][oO][cC][tT][yY][pP][eE]|\\[CDATA\\[)[^>]*>?" +
+    "|<[?][^>]*>?",
+  "g"
+);
diff --git a/src/data/stats.ts b/src/data/stats.ts
index ea86294..710b18c 100644
--- a/src/data/stats.ts
+++ b/src/data/stats.ts
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+import { MATCH_COMMENT } from "src/constants";
+
 export function getWordCount(text: string): number {
   const spaceDelimitedChars =
     /A-Za-z\u00AA\u00B5\u00BA\u00C0-\u00D6\u00D8-\u00F6\u00F8-\u02C1\u02C6-\u02D1\u02E0-\u02E4\u02EC\u02EE\u0370-\u0374\u0376\u0377\u037A-\u037D\u037F\u0386\u0388-\u038A\u038C\u038E-\u03A1\u03A3-\u03F5\u03F7-\u0481\u048A-\u052F\u0531-\u0556\u0559\u0561-\u0587\u05D0-\u05EA\u05F0-\u05F2\u0620-\u064A\u066E\u066F\u0671-\u06D3\u06D5\u06E5\u06E6\u06EE\u06EF\u06FA-\u06FC\u06FF\u0710\u0712-\u072F\u074D-\u07A5\u07B1\u07CA-\u07EA\u07F4\u07F5\u07FA\u0800-\u0815\u081A\u0824\u0828\u0840-\u0858\u08A0-\u08B4\u0904-\u0939\u093D\u0950\u0958-\u0961\u0971-\u0980\u0985-\u098C\u098F\u0990\u0993-\u09A8\u09AA-\u09B0\u09B2\u09B6-\u09B9\u09BD\u09CE\u09DC\u09DD\u09DF-\u09E1\u09F0\u09F1\u0A05-\u0A0A\u0A0F\u0A10\u0A13-\u0A28\u0A2A-\u0A30\u0A32\u0A33\u0A35\u0A36\u0A38\u0A39\u0A59-\u0A5C\u0A5E\u0A72-\u0A74\u0A85-\u0A8D\u0A8F-\u0A91\u0A93-\u0AA8\u0AAA-\u0AB0\u0AB2\u0AB3\u0AB5-\u0AB9\u0ABD\u0AD0\u0AE0\u0AE1\u0AF9\u0B05-\u0B0C\u0B0F\u0B10\u0B13-\u0B28\u0B2A-\u0B30\u0B32\u0B33\u0B35-\u0B39\u0B3D\u0B5C\u0B5D\u0B5F-\u0B61\u0B71\u0B83\u0B85-\u0B8A\u0B8E-\u0B90\u0B92-\u0B95\u0B99\u0B9A\u0B9C\u0B9E\u0B9F\u0BA3\u0BA4\u0BA8-\u0BAA\u0BAE-\u0BB9\u0BD0\u0C05-\u0C0C\u0C0E-\u0C10\u0C12-\u0C28\u0C2A-\u0C39\u0C3D\u0C58-\u0C5A\u0C60\u0C61\u0C85-\u0C8C\u0C8E-\u0C90\u0C92-\u0CA8\u0CAA-\u0CB3\u0CB5-\u0CB9\u0CBD\u0CDE\u0CE0\u0CE1\u0CF1\u0CF2\u0D05-\u0D0C\u0D0E-\u0D10\u0D12-\u0D3A\u0D3D\u0D4E\u0D5F-\u0D61\u0D7A-\u0D7F\u0D85-\u0D96\u0D9A-\u0DB1\u0DB3-\u0DBB\u0DBD\u0DC0-\u0DC6\u0E01-\u0E30\u0E32\u0E33\u0E40-\u0E46\u0E81\u0E82\u0E84\u0E87\u0E88\u0E8A\u0E8D\u0E94-\u0E97\u0E99-\u0E9F\u0EA1-\u0EA3\u0EA5\u0EA7\u0EAA\u0EAB\u0EAD-\u0EB0\u0EB2\u0EB3\u0EBD\u0EC0-\u0EC4\u0EC6\u0EDC-\u0EDF\u0F00\u0F40-\u0F47\u0F49-\u0F6C\u0F88-\u0F8C\u1000-\u102A\u103F\u1050-\u1055\u105A-\u105D\u1061\u1065\u1066\u106E-\u1070\u1075-\u1081\u108E\u10A0-\u10C5\u10C7\u10CD\u10D0-\u10FA\u10FC-\u1248\u124A-\u124D\u1250-\u1256\u1258\u125A-\u125D\u1260-\u1288\u128A-\u128D\u1290-\u12B0\u12B2-\u12B5\u12B8-\u12BE\u12C0\u12C2-\u12C5\u12C8-\u12D6\u12D8-\u1310\u1312-\u1315\u1318-\u135A\u1380-\u138F\u13A0-\u13F5\u13F8-\u13FD\u1401-\u166C\u166F-\u167F\u1681-\u169A\u16A0-\u16EA\u16F1-\u16F8\u1700-\u170C\u170E-\u1711\u1720-\u1731\u1740-\u1751\u1760-\u176C\u176E-\u1770\u1780-\u17B3\u17D7\u17DC\u1820-\u1877\u1880-\u18A8\u18AA\u18B0-\u18F5\u1900-\u191E\u1950-\u196D\u1970-\u1974\u1980-\u19AB\u19B0-\u19C9\u1A00-\u1A16\u1A20-\u1A54\u1AA7\u1B05-\u1B33\u1B45-\u1B4B\u1B83-\u1BA0\u1BAE\u1BAF\u1BBA-\u1BE5\u1C00-\u1C23\u1C4D-\u1C4F\u1C5A-\u1C7D\u1CE9-\u1CEC\u1CEE-\u1CF1\u1CF5\u1CF6\u1D00-\u1DBF\u1E00-\u1F15\u1F18-\u1F1D\u1F20-\u1F45\u1F48-\u1F4D\u1F50-\u1F57\u1F59\u1F5B\u1F5D\u1F5F-\u1F7D\u1F80-\u1FB4\u1FB6-\u1FBC\u1FBE\u1FC2-\u1FC4\u1FC6-\u1FCC\u1FD0-\u1FD3\u1FD6-\u1FDB\u1FE0-\u1FEC\u1FF2-\u1FF4\u1FF6-\u1FFC\u2071\u207F\u2090-\u209C\u2102\u2107\u210A-\u2113\u2115\u2119-\u211D\u2124\u2126\u2128\u212A-\u212D\u212F-\u2139\u213C-\u213F\u2145-\u2149\u214E\u2183\u2184\u2C00-\u2C2E\u2C30-\u2C5E\u2C60-\u2CE4\u2CEB-\u2CEE\u2CF2\u2CF3\u2D00-\u2D25\u2D27\u2D2D\u2D30-\u2D67\u2D6F\u2D80-\u2D96\u2DA0-\u2DA6\u2DA8-\u2DAE\u2DB0-\u2DB6\u2DB8-\u2DBE\u2DC0-\u2DC6\u2DC8-\u2DCE\u2DD0-\u2DD6\u2DD8-\u2DDE\u2E2F\u3005\u3006\u3031-\u3035\u303B\u303C\u3105-\u312D\u3131-\u318E\u31A0-\u31BA\u31F0-\u31FF\u3400-\u4DB5\uA000-\uA48C\uA4D0-\uA4FD\uA500-\uA60C\uA610-\uA61F\uA62A\uA62B\uA640-\uA66E\uA67F-\uA69D\uA6A0-\uA6E5\uA717-\uA71F\uA722-\uA788\uA78B-\uA7AD\uA7B0-\uA7B7\uA7F7-\uA801\uA803-\uA805\uA807-\uA80A\uA80C-\uA822\uA840-\uA873\uA882-\uA8B3\uA8F2-\uA8F7\uA8FB\uA8FD\uA90A-\uA925\uA930-\uA946\uA960-\uA97C\uA984-\uA9B2\uA9CF\uA9E0-\uA9E4\uA9E6-\uA9EF\uA9FA-\uA9FE\uAA00-\uAA28\uAA40-\uAA42\uAA44-\uAA4B\uAA60-\uAA76\uAA7A\uAA7E-\uAAAF\uAAB1\uAAB5\uAAB6\uAAB9-\uAABD\uAAC0\uAAC2\uAADB-\uAADD\uAAE0-\uAAEA\uAAF2-\uAAF4\uAB01-\uAB06\uAB09-\uAB0E\uAB11-\uAB16\uAB20-\uAB26\uAB28-\uAB2E\uAB30-\uAB5A\uAB5C-\uAB65\uAB70-\uABE2\uAC00-\uD7A3\uD7B0-\uD7C6\uD7CB-\uD7FB\uF900-\uFA6D\uFA70-\uFAD9\uFB00-\uFB06\uFB13-\uFB17\uFB1D\uFB1F-\uFB28\uFB2A-\uFB36\uFB38-\uFB3C\uFB3E\uFB40\uFB41\uFB43\uFB44\uFB46-\uFBB1\uFBD3-\uFD3D\uFD50-\uFD8F\uFD92-\uFDC7\uFDF0-\uFDFB\uFE70-\uFE74\uFE76-\uFEFC\uFF21-\uFF3A\uFF41-\uFF5A\uFF66-\uFFBE\uFFC2-\uFFC7\uFFCA-\uFFCF\uFFD2-\uFFD7\uFFDA-\uFFDC/
@@ -33,3 +35,7 @@ export function getSentenceCount(text: string): number {
 
   return sentences;
 }
+
+export function cleanComments(text: string): string {
+  return text.replace(MATCH_COMMENT, "");
+}
diff --git a/src/settings/settings-tab.ts b/src/settings/settings-tab.ts
index 1733568..eba9baf 100644
--- a/src/settings/settings-tab.ts
+++ b/src/settings/settings-tab.ts
@@ -38,6 +38,16 @@ export class BetterWordCountSettingsTab extends PluginSettingTab {
           await this.plugin.saveSettings();
         });
       });
+    new Setting(containerEl)
+      .setName("Count Comments")
+      .setDesc("Turn off if you don't want markdown comments to be counted.")
+      .addToggle((cb: ToggleComponent) => {
+        cb.setValue(this.plugin.settings.countComments);
+        cb.onChange(async (value: boolean) => {
+          this.plugin.settings.countComments = value;
+          await this.plugin.saveSettings();
+        });
+      });
 
     // Status Bar Settings
     containerEl.createEl("h3", { text: "Status Bar Settings" });
diff --git a/src/status/manager.ts b/src/status/manager.ts
index 4d26367..0c9d09b 100644
--- a/src/status/manager.ts
+++ b/src/status/manager.ts
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ import {
   getWordCount,
   getCharacterCount,
   getSentenceCount,
+  cleanComments,
 } from "../data/stats";
 import type { StatusBar } from "./bar";
 import { Expression, parse } from "./parse";
@@ -104,13 +105,17 @@ export class BarManager {
 
   cursorActivity(cm: CodeMirror.Editor) {
     if (cm.somethingSelected()) {
-      this.updateStatusBar(cm.getSelection());
+      if (this.settings.countComments) {
+        this.updateStatusBar(cleanComments(cm.getSelection()));
+      } else {
+        this.updateStatusBar(cm.getSelection());
+      }
     } else {
-      this.updateStatusBar(cm.getValue());
+      if (this.settings.countComments) {
+        this.updateStatusBar(cleanComments(cm.getValue()));
+      } else {
+        this.updateStatusBar(cm.getValue());
+      }
     }
   }
-
-  // change(cm: CodeMirror.Editor, changeObj: CodeMirror.EditorChangeLinkedList) {
-  //   this.updateStatusBar(cm.getValue());
-  // }
 }