Countdown Timer

This countdown timer gives a task a clear time limit: boiling noodles, steeping tea, a reminder before a meeting, a timed set of practice questions. Enter the minutes, press 'Start', and when time runs out it keeps ringing and shows a system notification until you confirm. You can name each countdown, and the page keeps a short history of recent runs. It does one job. It is not a calendar reminder or a scheduled task that runs across devices, so it suits short periods when you are near the computer. If you want a ring at a specific time of day, use this site's Alarm Clock; if you want to measure elapsed time rather than count down, use the Stopwatch.

How to use it

1. Optionally enter a name in 'Timer name', such as 'Boil noodles' or 'Meeting reminder'. If left blank it shows as 'Countdown'.
2. Enter the minutes in 'Duration (minutes)'. The default is 5. Decimals work: 0.5 is 30 seconds and 1.5 is one minute thirty.
3. Click 'Start'. The first time, the browser may ask for permission to show notifications; allow it to be alerted even when you are in another window. The big display counts down in hours:minutes:seconds.
4. To pause, click 'Pause', and click the same button again to continue. 'Reset' stops the timer and sets the display to zero, after which the name and duration fields can be edited again.
5. At zero, a tone sounds roughly every 2 seconds, the notification stays on screen, and a 'Confirm & stop' button appears. Clicking it ends the run and adds an entry to the history.

A typical scenario

Suppose you are cooking noodles that need 8 minutes. Name the timer 'Boil noodles', set the duration to 8, press 'Start' and go and do something else, including opening other tools on this site, because the countdown carries on and shows the current remaining time when you return. After 8 minutes it rings and shows a notification saying the noodles timer is up. The tone stops only once you click 'Confirm & stop'. If you simply need a 30-second nudge, enter 0.5.

Supported scope and known limits

• Only one countdown runs at a time. There are no parallel timers and no repeat option.
• Once the timer is running or paused (remaining time above zero), the name and duration fields are locked. Use 'Reset' to change them. 'Reset' sets the display to zero rather than restoring the set duration; pressing 'Start' afterwards begins again from the number in the duration field.
• The smallest unit is one second. The length is the number in the field times 60 seconds, so 0.3 minutes is about 18 seconds. A value of 0 or an empty field makes the timer reach 'time's up' almost immediately after starting.
• Timing is based on an end time on the system clock (remaining = end time minus now) rather than counting timer ticks, so a browser slowing background tabs no longer makes the countdown run slow, and the display is corrected as soon as you return. The ring and notification, however, can only fire when the browser lets the page run code, so in a background tab they may arrive a few seconds late, and a sleeping device cannot ring until it wakes. For precise needs, use proper timing equipment.
• After a reload, or closing and reopening this page, the countdown is restored: the name, duration and remaining time (or end time) are kept in your browser's local storage. If the time ran out while the page was closed, reopening shows 'time's up' straight away, rings, and waits for you to click 'Confirm & stop'. 'Reset' clears this state.
• History lives in your browser's local storage and keeps at most the latest 100 entries. It records the minutes you set, not the actual time elapsed, and only runs you confirmed are logged; a reset mid-way is not. Switching browsers or clearing site data removes it.
• The tone is a simple browser-generated sound with no choice of ringtone or volume control. Notifications need permission, and their text follows the page language (English when the URL starts with /en, otherwise Chinese).

FAQ: Why does it keep ringing instead of stopping by itself?

That is intentional. A countdown exists to remind you to do something, and if the sound stopped after a few seconds you might miss it and the reminder would be wasted. The tool keeps ringing and keeps the notification visible until you click 'Confirm & stop'.

FAQ: Does it keep going if I open another page?

Yes. The state is held at site level instead of inside a single tool page, so moving between tools does not interrupt it. It is also restored after a reload or reopening the tab: a running countdown continues towards its end time, and one that has already finished shows 'time's up'. A sleeping device cannot ring, though, so the alert appears only once it wakes.

FAQ: How is it different from the alarm clock and the stopwatch?

A countdown means 'remind me N minutes from now'. An alarm means 'remind me at a certain time of day'. A stopwatch counts up from zero to show how long something took. They are separate tools on this site, each with its own state.

FAQ: I get no notification. What should I check?

Look near the address bar for an icon showing that notifications are blocked and change the site setting to allow them. Do Not Disturb or Focus modes at the operating-system level can also block them. Even without notifications, the on-page message and the tone still work, provided the tab is not muted.

Privacy and processing

The countdown runs entirely in your browser, and nothing in the code sends your name, duration or history to a server. The only persistent data is the history (name, minutes, completion time), stored in your own browser's local storage and removable with 'Clear history'.