Countdown & stopwatch. Big, precise, entirely yours.

How to use the Countdown & Stopwatch

This page holds two timers on one card: a countdown that chimes when it reaches zero, and a stopwatch that records laps to the hundredth of a second. Both measure time against your computer's clock instead of counting ticks, so they stay correct when the tab sits in the background. Use the countdown for focus sessions, talks and cooking, and the stopwatch for timing runs, tests or tasks.

Step by step

1. 1
   Choose a mode

   Click Countdown or Stopwatch at the top of the card. Countdown is open when the page loads, already set to 25 minutes. Each mode keeps running if you switch to the other one.

2. 2
   Set the countdown length

   Click a preset (1 min, 5 min, 10 min or 25 min), or type values into Hours (0 to 99), Minutes (0 to 59) and Seconds (0 to 59) and press Set. Values outside those ranges are pulled back to the nearest limit.

3. 3
   Or count down to a clock time

   Under the line that reads count down to a time today, pick a time and press Use time. The timer is set to the gap between now and that time. If the time has already passed today, it counts down to that time tomorrow.

4. 4
   Choose how you want to be alerted

   Chime at zero is ticked by default and plays a short four note chime. Tick Desktop notification if you also want a system alert. Your browser asks for permission only when you tick it, and the note beside it shows if notifications are blocked or not supported.

5. 5
   Start, pause and reset the countdown

   Press Start. The button turns into Pause, and after a pause it reads Resume. The time also shows in the browser tab title while it runs. Press Reset to go back to the length you set.

6. 6
   Time something with the stopwatch

   In Stopwatch mode, press Start, then press Lap each time you pass a checkpoint. Lap only works while the stopwatch is running. Pause and Resume keep the elapsed time, and Reset clears the time and every lap.

7. 7
   Copy your laps

   Press Copy laps to put the lap list on your clipboard as a tab separated table with the columns Lap, Split and Total. It pastes straight into a spreadsheet as three columns.

Reading the result

• The countdown shows hours, minutes and seconds, so the default reads 00:25:00. When it reaches zero the digits turn orange and pulse, and a Time's up! message appears at the bottom of the screen.
• The stopwatch shows minutes and seconds with hundredths in smaller digits, for example 01:23.45. Hours appear in front once it passes 60 minutes.
• Each lap row shows the lap number, the split with a plus sign (the time since the previous lap) and, on the right, the total time since you started.
• Once you have two or more laps, the quickest split is tagged fastest and the longest is tagged slowest.

Tips and common mistakes

• If you type new values into Hours, Minutes or Seconds while the countdown is stopped, the display updates when you leave the box. Press Set to see a confirmation.
• Some browsers keep sound blocked until you interact with the page. Pressing Start counts as that interaction, so the chime is ready when the timer ends.
• In a background tab the chime can arrive a moment late because browsers slow down hidden pages, but the remaining time itself does not drift.
• Laps live only in the open tab. Copy them before you reload or close the page, or they are gone.
• If notifications were blocked earlier, the tool cannot ask again. Allow them for this site in your browser settings, then tick Desktop notification.

Privacy and limits

Both timers run in your own browser and nothing is sent to a server. Nothing is saved either, so a reload stops any running timer and clears all laps. A desktop notification is shown by your own system and only if you grant permission.

Back to the tool

One card, two precise modes.

• Set a countdown in hours, minutes and seconds, or pick a quick preset: 1, 5, 10 or 25 minutes.
• Count down to a clock time today with the target-time input, if the time has already passed, it rolls to tomorrow automatically.
• Get a chime and desktop notification the moment the countdown reaches zero; permission is only requested when you tick the box.
• Run a stopwatch accurate to the centisecond, with Start, Pause, Resume and Reset, and the live time mirrored into the tab title.
• Record lap and split times and see the fastest and slowest laps highlighted automatically.
• Copy laps to clipboard as a tab-separated table ready to paste straight into a spreadsheet.

Frequently asked questions.

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