Multiple Online Timers

Start several countdown timers side by side, each with its own name. When a timer finishes it rings and reads its label aloud — handy for juggling multiple dishes or intervals.

How to use

  1. Name a timer and set its duration, then add it.
  2. Add as many timers as you need — they all run side by side.
  3. Each timer rings and announces its name when it finishes.

Each timer stores a target moment rather than counting down tick by tick, and compares it against the clock on every repaint. That is why a timer stays accurate even when the tab goes to the background and the browser throttles its interval.

In depth

When one timer is not enough

Cooking runs rice at twenty minutes, soup at fifteen and vegetables at five, all at once. A single timer means resetting constantly.

Training needs the rest between sets alongside the total session time.

Studying works the same way: a pomodoro cycle running while a separate timer tracks total study time.

At work, timing several tasks separately rather than estimating afterwards.

Naming them is the point. When an alarm fires, you know which one finished without looking.

Why background tabs don't drift

Browsers throttle timers in background tabs to save battery, often to once per second or slower. A countdown built on "subtract one each second" drifts further behind the longer it runs.

This tool instead stores the target time and compares against the clock on every repaint. However lazy the browser was in between, the remaining time is correct.

So you can switch tabs, lock the screen, and come back to an accurate countdown.

When the alarm doesn't sound

Sound only plays after you press a button. Browsers block audio without a user gesture, so a timer set without any interaction may stay silent.

Check whether the device is muted or the tab is muted — a speaker icon on the tab can be right-clicked to unmute.

iOS restricts this most. Audio may not play once the screen locks. For something important, keep the screen awake or use the device's own timer app alongside.

This tool does not request notification permission; sound plays within the page. Closing the tab ends the timer.

Spoken names

When a timer completes, the browser's speech synthesis reads its name aloud — so you don't need to look at a screen with wet hands mid-recipe.

Voice and pronunciation quality are determined by the device and operating system, so the same page sounds different on iOS, Android and Windows.

Browsers without support simply play the alarm tone. Short names are understood more reliably.

Timer or stopwatch

A timer counts down from a set duration and tells you when it's done — cooking, training, anything where the end matters.

A stopwatch counts up from zero — measuring how long something took, with laps for segments.

On this site, countdown lives here and count-up with laps and scheduled alarms lives at /stopwatch. They are separate because combining them makes both harder to use.

Your timers are remembered

The timer list persists in browser localStorage, so a set you use regularly is still there next time.

Nothing is transmitted, and clearing browser data removes it. Worth remembering on a shared computer.

FAQ

Can I run more than one timer at the same time?

Yes. Add as many named timers as you need and they all count down together, each alerting you independently when it reaches zero.

Will the alarm still sound if I switch tabs?

Timers keep counting while the tab is in the background, and the alarm sounds when each one finishes.

I can't hear the alarm.

Check your device's silent mode and whether the tab is muted. Browsers typically only allow sound after you've interacted with the page at least once.

Method and sources

What this tool bases its numbers on, and how far those numbers go.

What this tool is
A browser timer. It is not a substitute for an appliance timer where overrunning matters — a closed tab, a sleeping device or a muted browser all stop the alarm from reaching you.
Formula
Adding a timer stores an absolute target instant rather than a counter. Remaining time is recomputed as target minus the current clock reading on every repaint, so a throttled background interval delays the display but never the deadline. Completion plays a tone and reads the timer's name through the browser's speech synthesis.
Worked example
Set 5:00 at 14:00:00 and the stored target is 14:05:00. If the browser throttles the background interval to once a minute, the shown countdown may jump from 4:00 straight to 3:00, but the alarm still fires at 14:05:00 because the remaining time is always target minus now.
Limitations
  • The tab has to stay open. This is page-local audio, not a system notification, so closing the tab or fully quitting the browser ends the timer.
  • Audio needs a prior interaction. Browsers block sound until you have tapped the page, and a muted tab or a device on silent produces no alarm even though the timer completed.
  • Spoken names depend on the installed voices. A language with no voice on that device falls back to a plain tone, and the wording may be pronounced oddly.
  • A sleeping phone can delay the ring. Some mobile browsers suspend timers and audio in deep sleep, and the alarm then arrives when you wake the device.
Effective date
Last reviewed

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