Online Timer
Pick a preset or set any time, press start, and get a clear sound alert when it hits zero.
This online timer counts down from any time you choose and plays a sound alert the moment it reaches zero. Grab a one-click preset — 1, 5, 10, 15, 30 or 60 minutes — or type a custom duration down to the second. The big display stays readable from across the room, which makes it a favourite for kitchens, classrooms and workouts.
There is nothing to install and no account to make. The timer starts instantly, keeps counting in the tab, and the alert keeps sounding until you dismiss it, so a boiling egg or a resting steak does not get forgotten.
One honest note: the timer lives in this browser tab. If you close the tab, the countdown stops. Keep the tab open (a background tab is fine) and the alert will fire on time.
How to use the online timer
- Choose a preset, or enter hours, minutes and seconds for a custom time.
- Press Start — the countdown begins immediately.
- Pause or reset at any point if plans change.
- Leave the tab open; switch to other tabs freely while it counts.
- When time is up, the alarm sounds — click to stop it.
What people time with it
Cooking is the classic: 3 minutes for a soft-boiled egg, 10 for rice, 12 for pasta bake checks. Study and work sessions use the longer presets — 25 or 50 minutes of focus. Teachers run 5-minute quiz timers on the projector, gym-goers time rest between sets, and parents use it for screen-time limits because a neutral alarm argues less than a parent does.
If you need repeating work/break cycles, the Pomodoro timer on this site automates them; if you want to count up instead of down, use the stopwatch.
How the online timer works in your browser
Everything happens on your device. When you press Start, the page reads the current time from your computer's clock and counts down against it, refreshing the big display every second. Nothing about what you are timing is uploaded, there is no server involved, and the tool loads once and then simply runs inside the tab.
Because the countdown is anchored to the real clock rather than a naive tick loop, a brief slowdown in a background tab will not make it lose minutes — switch back and it shows the correct remaining time. The one hard limit is that the alert can only fire while the tab is open and the device awake, so a sleeping laptop rings late or not at all until you wake it.
Timing beyond the kitchen
Cooking gets the headlines, but the online timer earns its keep everywhere. HIIT and circuit workouts run on 30-seconds-on, 15-seconds-off blocks; physios set 45-second stretch holds; and meditation sessions use a quiet 10-minute countdown so you are not peeking at a clock the whole time.
At a desk it becomes a meeting timekeeper — five minutes per agenda item, two minutes per lightning talk — and speakers rehearse to a fixed limit so the real thing lands on time. Teachers project it for tests and tidy-up warnings, and parents use a neutral bell for turn-taking and screen limits.
Getting the alarm to sound
Browsers block audio on pages you have never touched, so the single most important step is to start the timer with a real click or tap — that interaction is what unlocks the sound. If you never interact with the page, the countdown still runs but may finish silently.
The other causes are simple: the tab is muted (check the small speaker icon on the tab), system volume is down, or the device went to sleep before zero. Keep the tab open and the machine awake, unmute, and turn the volume up before you rely on the alert.
Tips for getting the most out of it
Round trickier durations up slightly when the stakes are food — a 12-minute bake checked at 11:30 is safer than one you forget at 12:30. For repeated tasks, keep the tab pinned so the presets are one click away rather than reopening the page each time.
If you regularly need the same odd duration, set the custom fields once and reuse them — the tool keeps your last entry ready — or bookmark the page after setting it. And when several stages run back to back, take one timer to zero, then reset and enter the next rather than juggling two at once.
Presets or a custom time?
The one-click presets — 1, 5, 10, 15, 30 and 60 minutes — cover the overwhelming majority of everyday timing, from a quick brew to an hour of focused work. They exist precisely so you do not fiddle with fields while your hands are full of flour or dumbbells.
The hours, minutes and seconds fields handle everything in between: a 3-minute 30-second egg, a 90-minute exam, a two-hour parking limit. Any duration from a single second up to many hours works, so you are never forced into a preset that does not quite fit.
When another tool fits better
If you want repeating focus-and-break cycles rather than a single countdown, the Pomodoro timer on this site automates the 25/5 rhythm for you. To measure how long something takes instead of counting down to zero, the stopwatch counts up and supports laps.
And when the target is a calendar date rather than a duration — days until an exam or a holiday — the countdown-to-date tool recalculates from the clock every time it loads, so it stays correct even after you close the page.
Frequently asked questions
Is the online timer free?
Yes, completely. No sign-up, no ads gating the start button, no limits on how many times you use it.
Will the alarm sound if I am in another tab?
Yes. The timer keeps running in a background tab and the sound plays when it finishes. Make sure your device volume is up and the tab is not muted.
What happens if I close the tab?
The timer stops — it runs in your browser, not on a server. Keep the tab open for the countdown to survive. Minimising the window or switching tabs is fine; closing the tab is not.
Can I set a custom time like 7 minutes 30 seconds?
Yes. Alongside the presets there are fields for hours, minutes and seconds, so any duration from one second to many hours works.
Why didn't I hear the alarm?
The usual culprits: device volume down, the tab muted, or the browser blocking audio because you never interacted with the page. Press Start with a click or tap and the browser will allow the alert sound.
Does it work on iPhone and Android?
Yes, in any mobile browser. One phone-specific caveat: if the phone locks or the browser is pushed out of memory, the timer can pause, so for long countdowns a plugged-in or awake device is more reliable.
Timer or stopwatch — which do I need?
A timer counts down from a set time and alerts you; a stopwatch counts up from zero to measure how long something takes. For laps and elapsed time, use the stopwatch tool instead.