diff --git a/src/main.ts b/src/main.ts
index 8b5eca0..5bbb555 100644
--- a/src/main.ts
+++ b/src/main.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,10 @@
-import { MarkdownView, Plugin, TFile, WorkspaceSidedock } from "obsidian";
+import {
+  MarkdownView,
+  Plugin,
+  TFile,
+  MetadataCache,
+  getAllTags,
+} from "obsidian";
 import { BetterWordCountSettingsTab } from "./settings/settings-tab";
 import { BetterWordCountSettings } from "./settings/settings";
 import { StatusBar } from "./status-bar";
@@ -13,6 +19,8 @@ export default class BetterWordCount extends Plugin {
     let statusBarEl = this.addStatusBarItem();
     this.statusBar = new StatusBar(statusBarEl);
 
+    this.updateAltCount();
+
     this.recentlyTyped = false;
 
     this.settings = (await this.loadData()) || new BetterWordCountSettings();
@@ -69,7 +77,7 @@ export default class BetterWordCount extends Plugin {
       this.recentlyTyped = true;
       this.updateWordCount(contents);
     } else {
-      this.updateWordCount("");
+      this.updateAltCount();
     }
   }
 
@@ -83,6 +91,13 @@ export default class BetterWordCount extends Plugin {
     }
   }
 
+  async updateAltCount() {
+    // Thanks to Eleanor Konik for the alternate count idea.
+    const files = this.app.vault.getFiles().length;
+
+    this.statusBar.displayText(`${files} files`);
+  }
+
   updateWordCount(text: string) {
     let words: number = 0;