How to Use a Countdown Timer

A countdown timer counts down from a set amount of time and alerts you at zero. It's among the simplest tools there is, and also one of the most useful: it means you don't have to keep track of time yourself.

Using our online timer

1. Open the online timer.
2. Type the hours, minutes and seconds, or tap a preset to start immediately.
3. Choose a sound and check the volume.
4. Pause or reset at any time, and use Fullscreen so you can see it from a distance.

Ideas for everyday use

• Cooking: run a timer per dish. Since you can run several at once, you can have one for the pasta and one for the sauce.
• Studying and working: a 25-minute timer is the basis of the Pomodoro Technique.
• Exercise: intervals work well with short presets, such as 30 seconds of effort.
• Classrooms and meetings: a fullscreen timer keeps activities and speakers on schedule without anyone having to interrupt.
• Small tasks: a 10-minute timer makes it easier to start tidying or to answer email.

Timer, stopwatch or alarm?

• Use a timer when you know how long something should take.
• Use a stopwatch when you want to find out how long something takes.
• Use an alarm clock when something happens at a particular time of day.

Getting reliable alerts

Keep the tab open and your device awake, with sound on. A timer in a background tab stays accurate, and you can enable desktop notifications so that you notice when it ends. Timers that are running also survive a reload, because they're based on a fixed end time.