Countdown Timer
Local only — nothing is uploaded unless you save or share it.
A 5 minute timer, a 10 minute timer, or any timer online — with an alarm.
- Set hours, minutes and seconds, or tap a preset
- Press Start — the tab title shows the time left
- It alarms at zero, even if you have switched tabs
Time's up
Presets
Eight timers is as many as one page holds — remove one to add another.
Each timer counts down on its own, and the tab shows whichever finishes first.
Sign in to also get an email when it finishes
Confirm your email address to get a reminder by email
Pro accounts can have up to 10 timers emailing at once, across every device you use. See what Pro includes
Save this tool
Keep Countdown Timer handy
Use your browser's Share menu, then “Add to Home Screen”.
About this tool
Most browser timers count down by subtracting a second every second, which works right up until you switch tabs. Browsers throttle background tabs to save battery, often to one tick a minute and sometimes to none at all, so a counting timer quietly loses however long you were not looking at it — ten minutes can finish four minutes late, which is the one thing a timer must never do. This one does not count. Starting it records a deadline, and the display is worked out from the clock each time it is drawn, so a tab that was asleep for five minutes wakes up already showing the right number, or already finished. Set any duration up to 24 hours, or use a preset for the common ones. The remaining time appears in the tab title, because a timer is watched from somewhere else by definition — nobody sits looking at the window for ten minutes. When it reaches zero it sounds an alarm and the title says so. Everything runs in your browser: no account needed, and nothing about what you are timing leaves the page unless you ask for one thing — an email when it finishes, for the timers that outlast the tab they were started in.
Frequently asked questions
Does it keep running if I switch tabs?
Yes, and accurately. The timer stores when it should finish rather than counting down, so background throttling cannot make it drift. Switch away for five minutes and it will show exactly five minutes less when you come back.
Can I use it as a pomodoro timer?
Yes: twenty-five minutes of work, five of break, and the presets are there for both. Several timers can run at once, which is the part most pomodoro pages miss — one for the working block and one for whatever is in the oven.
How do I set a 5 minute timer?
Press the 5-minute preset, or type any figure into the boxes and start it. The timer keeps counting when the tab is behind something else — it works from the clock rather than from a tick that a background tab would throttle, so a 5 minute timer is five minutes whatever else you are doing.
Will it still alarm if the tab is in the background?
It will, though the sound may be delayed by a moment if the browser has thrown the tab into a deeply throttled state. The tab also changes to say so, and its icon turns into a red alert dot — which is what you actually see when a dozen tabs are open and each title has been shortened to three letters. Both stay that way until you come back and start or reset it, so a missed beep is not a missed timer.
Can I use it as a kitchen timer or for the Pomodoro technique?
Yes — the presets cover the usual ones, including 25 minutes for a Pomodoro and 5 for the short break. Set any duration up to 24 hours if none of them fit.
Why does the tab title show the countdown?
Because a timer is watched from somewhere else, by definition. Nobody sits looking at a timer for ten minutes, so the number belongs in the one part of the page that is visible from another tab.
Does it need an account or an internet connection?
Neither. It runs entirely in your browser, and you can disconnect from the internet once the page has loaded and it keeps working. The one exception is the optional email reminder below the timer: ticking that sends the finish time to us so we can post it to you, and it is the only thing on this page that leaves your browser.
Can it email me when the timer finishes?
Yes, if you are signed in with a confirmed email address — tick the box under the timer. It is worth having when the timer outlasts the tab: closing the page stops the alarm, but not the email. All we store is the finish time and the optional label you give it, both deleted from your account the moment you stop the timer or ask us to erase your data.
Help improve this tool
Found a bug, want a change, or need a tool we don't have?
You have an unsent draft.
Thanks — that's with us. You'll find the reply in your inbox.Go to my messages