diff --git a/src/css/statusbar.css b/src/css/statusbar.css
index 909b378..36fcdd6 100644
--- a/src/css/statusbar.css
+++ b/src/css/statusbar.css
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ div.jsoneditor-statusbar {
 
 div.jsoneditor-statusbar > .jsoneditor-curserinfo-label,
 div.jsoneditor-statusbar > .jsoneditor-size-info {
-  margin: 0 2px 0 4px;
+  margin: 0 4px;
 }
 
 div.jsoneditor-statusbar > .jsoneditor-curserinfo-val {
@@ -45,3 +45,7 @@ div.jsoneditor-statusbar > .jsoneditor-parse-error-icon {
   margin: 1px;
   background: url("img/jsoneditor-icons.svg") -25px 0px;
 }
+
+div.jsoneditor-statusbar .jsoneditor-array-info a {
+  color: inherit;
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/js/jsonUtils.js b/src/js/jsonUtils.js
index fcd794f..52b9e67 100644
--- a/src/js/jsonUtils.js
+++ b/src/js/jsonUtils.js
@@ -186,4 +186,15 @@ function slice(text, limit) {
       : text;
 }
 
+/**
+ * Test whether some text contains a JSON array, i.e. the first
+ * non-white space character is a [
+ * @param {string} jsonText
+ * @return {boolean}
+ */
+function containsArray (jsonText) {
+  return /^\s*\[/.test(jsonText)
+}
+
 exports.stringifyPartial = stringifyPartial;
+exports.containsArray = containsArray;
diff --git a/src/js/previewmode.js b/src/js/previewmode.js
index d057e6e..b3be549 100644
--- a/src/js/previewmode.js
+++ b/src/js/previewmode.js
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ var MAX_PREVIEW_CHARACTERS = require('./constants').MAX_PREVIEW_CHARACTERS;
 var DEFAULT_MODAL_ANCHOR = require('./constants').DEFAULT_MODAL_ANCHOR;
 var SIZE_LARGE = require('./constants').SIZE_LARGE;
 var util = require('./util');
+var jsonUtils = require('./jsonUtils');
 
 // create a mixin with the functions for text mode
 var previewmode = {};
@@ -205,11 +206,15 @@ previewmode.create = function (container, options) {
     statusBar.className = 'jsoneditor-statusbar';
     this.frame.appendChild(statusBar);
 
-    this.dom.sizeInfo = document.createElement('span');
-    this.dom.sizeInfo.className = 'jsoneditor-size-info';
-    this.dom.sizeInfo.innerText = '';
+    this.dom.fileSizeInfo = document.createElement('span');
+    this.dom.fileSizeInfo.className = 'jsoneditor-size-info';
+    this.dom.fileSizeInfo.innerText = '';
+    statusBar.appendChild(this.dom.fileSizeInfo);
 
-    statusBar.appendChild(this.dom.sizeInfo);
+    this.dom.arrayInfo = document.createElement('span');
+    this.dom.arrayInfo.className = 'jsoneditor-size-info';
+    this.dom.arrayInfo.innerText = '';
+    statusBar.appendChild(this.dom.arrayInfo);
   }
 
   this.renderPreview();
@@ -222,8 +227,42 @@ previewmode.renderPreview = function () {
 
   this.dom.previewText.nodeValue = util.limitCharacters(text, MAX_PREVIEW_CHARACTERS);
 
-  if (this.dom.sizeInfo) {
-    this.dom.sizeInfo.innerText = 'Size: ' + util.formatSize(text.length);
+  if (this.dom.fileSizeInfo) {
+    this.dom.fileSizeInfo.innerText = 'Size: ' + util.formatSize(text.length);
+  }
+
+  if (this.dom.arrayInfo) {
+    if (Array.isArray(this.json)) {
+      this.dom.arrayInfo.innerText = ('Array: ' + this.json.length + ' items');
+    }
+    else if (jsonUtils.containsArray(this.text)) {
+      var info = document.createElement('span');
+      info.className = 'jsoneditor-array-info';
+      var calculate = document.createElement('a');
+      var me = this;
+      calculate.appendChild(document.createTextNode('calculate number of items'));
+      calculate.href = '#';
+      calculate.onclick = function () {
+        me.executeWithBusyMessage(function () {
+          try {
+            me.get();
+            me.renderPreview();
+          }
+          catch (err) {
+            me._onError(err);
+          }
+        }, 'parsing...');
+      }
+      info.appendChild(document.createTextNode('Array: '));
+      info.appendChild(calculate);
+
+      this.dom.arrayInfo.innerHTML = '';
+      this.dom.arrayInfo.appendChild(info);
+    }
+    else {
+      this.dom.arrayInfo.innerText = '';
+    }
+
   }
 };
 
@@ -288,6 +327,7 @@ previewmode._showSortModal = function () {
   this.executeWithBusyMessage(function () {
     var container = me.options.modalAnchor || DEFAULT_MODAL_ANCHOR;
     var json = me.get();
+    me.renderPreview(); // update array count
 
     showSortModal(container, json, function (sortedBy) {
       me.executeWithBusyMessage(function () {
@@ -307,6 +347,7 @@ previewmode._showTransformModal = function () {
   this.executeWithBusyMessage(function () {
     var anchor = me.options.modalAnchor || DEFAULT_MODAL_ANCHOR;
     var json = me.get();
+    me.renderPreview(); // update array count
 
     showTransformModal(anchor, json, function (query) {
       me.executeWithBusyMessage(function () {
@@ -343,6 +384,8 @@ previewmode.compact = function () {
 
   // we know that in this case the json is still the same
   this.json = json;
+
+  this.renderPreview();
 };
 
 /**
@@ -355,6 +398,8 @@ previewmode.format = function () {
 
   // we know that in this case the json is still the same
   this.json = json;
+
+  this.renderPreview();
 };
 
 /**
diff --git a/test/jsonUtils.test.js b/test/jsonUtils.test.js
index 961b3c4..acc3de1 100644
--- a/test/jsonUtils.test.js
+++ b/test/jsonUtils.test.js
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 var assert = require('assert');
 var stringifyPartial = require('../src/js/jsonUtils').stringifyPartial;
+var containsArray = require('../src/js/jsonUtils').containsArray;
 
 describe('jsonUtils', function () {
 
@@ -82,4 +83,16 @@ describe('jsonUtils', function () {
     assert.strictEqual(stringifyPartial(12345678, undefined, 4),'1234...');
   });
 
+  it('should count array items', function () {
+    // assert.strictEqual(countArrayItems('[1,2,3]'), 3)
+    assert.strictEqual(containsArray('[]'), true)
+    assert.strictEqual(containsArray(' []'), true)
+    assert.strictEqual(containsArray(' \t  []'), true)
+    assert.strictEqual(containsArray(' \t\n  []'), true)
+    assert.strictEqual(containsArray('"["'), false)
+    assert.strictEqual(containsArray('2'), false)
+    assert.strictEqual(containsArray('null'), false)
+    assert.strictEqual(containsArray('{}'), false)
+  });
+
 });
\ No newline at end of file