A simple, accurate online timer
Use this countdown timer for cooking, workouts, exams, presentations, breaks or anything else that needs a clear deadline. Set hours, minutes and seconds, or tap a preset, then press Start. The remaining time is shown in large digits and also in the browser tab title, so you can keep an eye on it while working in another tab. Press Start again to pause and resume, and Reset to go back to the time you set. When the timer reaches zero, the display changes, the tab title says time is up and three short beeps play.
Counting down to a date
Switch the mode to "To a date and time" to count down to an event, such as a launch, a holiday, an exam or the end of a sale. Pick the date and time in your own time zone and press Start. Long countdowns show days as well as hours, minutes and seconds.
Why it stays accurate
Many simple web timers count ticks of a JavaScript interval, which drifts and slows down badly when the tab is in the background, because browsers throttle timers to save battery. This timer instead records the moment it should finish and, on every update, compares that with the real clock. Even if the page is hidden for a while and updates pause, the time shown is correct as soon as you return, and the finish is detected immediately.
About the alarm sound
The beep is generated by your browser's audio engine, so no sound file is downloaded. Browsers only allow pages to play sound after you interact with them, which is why the sound is prepared when you press Start. If your device is muted or in silent mode you will not hear it, so keep the tab visible for important deadlines. On phones, the screen may lock during long countdowns; the timer will catch up when you unlock it, but the alarm can only play while the page is open.
Related tools
For timing something as it happens, with laps, use the stopwatch. For focused work sessions with automatic breaks, try the Pomodoro timer. To count the days between two dates, see the days between dates calculator.