Online timer & stopwatch — countdowns, laps and alarms
Need an online timer or a stopwatch right now? Carbide has both, free and in your browser: the Countdown Timer counts down any duration up to 99:59:59 and sounds a real alarm at zero, and the Stopwatch measures in milliseconds with lap times. No sign-up, no download — press start and go.
They are two halves of the same job. A timer counts down to an alarm — cooking, workouts, study blocks. A stopwatch counts up from zero — races, laps, anything you want measured. This guide shows how to use each, what result to expect, and how they behave when the tab is in the background.
Set a countdown with a real alarm
The Countdown Timer is built for one motion: set a duration, start it, and get an unmissable signal when time is up. It handles anything from a one-minute plank to a 99-hour deadline, and the big mono display plus a progress ring show at a glance how much time is left.
Here is the whole workflow:
- Open the Countdown Timer and set hours, minutes and seconds — or tap a preset.
- Press start. The remaining time counts down and the ring fills as time passes.
- Pause and resume whenever you need — the countdown picks up exactly where it stopped.
- At zero, the display reads 00:00 and a clear three-beep alarm plays through your speakers.
- Press start again to rerun the same duration, or reset to set a new one.
Quick presets for the timings you actually use
Most timer searches are really duration searches — "set a timer for 10 minutes", "5 minute timer". That is why the Countdown Timer puts one-tap presets right under the display: 1, 3, 5, 10 and 25 minutes. One tap sets the duration, one tap starts it.
Each preset maps to a real routine. One minute covers rest between sets or a plank. Three to five minutes is tea, eggs and most kitchen jobs that burn the moment you look away. Ten minutes suits a power nap, a quick tidy-up or a homework sprint. And 25 minutes is the classic pomodoro focus block — start it, work until the alarm, then take a short break. Need something odd like 7:30 or 45 minutes? Type it directly; presets are a shortcut, not a limit.
A millisecond stopwatch with lap times
The Stopwatch counts up from zero, measuring in milliseconds and displaying hundredths of a second — precise enough for sprints, sets, speedcubing solves and timed presentations. Start and stop with one tap; reset takes it back to zero.
Laps are where it earns its place. While the watch is running, tap lap to mark a split: each lap records the total time at that moment and the time of that lap alone, newest first, so you can compare lap 4 against lap 1 without doing subtraction in your head. Time a run per kilometer, a circuit per exercise, or a rehearsal per section — the expected result is a clean list of numbered laps with both the cumulative total and the individual split for each.
Does the alarm ring in a background tab?
The short answer: your time is never lost, and the alarm plays — though a heavily throttled background tab can delay the beep by a few seconds. Both tools anchor to the browser's real clock rather than counting ticks, so even when the browser slows a background tab down, the countdown and the stopwatch stay accurate. Switch back and the display shows exactly the right time.
For the alarm itself, browsers throttle how often background tabs get to run, so the sound can fire slightly late if the tab has been hidden a long while. If the alarm is the whole point — food on the stove, a timed exam — keep the tab visible or in a separate window, and make sure your device volume is up. The Stopwatch has no alarm to miss: it simply keeps counting, correctly, until you return.
Study sessions, pomodoro and keyboard-friendly control
A study session needs more than a clock. Start a 25-minute block on the Countdown Timer, and when the alarm fires, take a 5-minute break — both are presets, so the whole pomodoro loop is two taps. During the block, keep distractions out of the way: notes go straight into the Notepad, which saves automatically in your browser (more in the notepad and secure notes guide).
Writing an essay against a word limit? Keep the Character Counter open beside the timer — the counter and case converter guide covers it. Studying in a group and arguing over who presents first? Let the Random Generator pick fairly (see the random generators guide). The controls are plain buttons, so keyboard users can Tab to start and hit Space or Enter — no mouse required.
Timer or stopwatch — which one do you need?
The rule of thumb: if you know the duration in advance, count down; if the duration is the thing you are measuring, count up.
- Cooking, workouts, breaks, exams, parking meters → Countdown Timer: set the time, get an alarm.
- Races, laps, sets, solves, speeches → Stopwatch: start at zero, mark laps, read the splits.
- Pomodoro study blocks → Countdown Timer with the 25-minute preset, then the 5-minute one.
- "How long does this actually take?" → Stopwatch, then set the Countdown Timer to that time next round.
Frequently asked questions
Is the online timer really free?
Yes. Both the Countdown Timer and the Stopwatch are completely free — no sign-up, no trial, no daily limits and no ads gating the start button.
Does the timer keep counting if I switch tabs?
Yes. Both tools read the browser's real clock instead of counting ticks, so backgrounding the tab never loses time. Come back and the countdown or elapsed time is exactly right; only the alarm sound can arrive a few seconds late in a long-hidden tab.
Is anything uploaded or tracked when I use the stopwatch or timer?
No. Both run entirely in your browser — no times, laps or durations are sent anywhere, and no account is needed. Once the page is loaded, the timing itself needs no connection at all.
Can I use this as a pomodoro timer?
Yes — the Countdown Timer's 25-minute preset is the classic pomodoro block. Work until the alarm, tap the 5-minute preset for the break, then start the next block. Two taps per cycle.
Can I make the timer full screen?
The display is already large, high-contrast mono digits that read from across a room. There is no dedicated full-screen button yet, but your browser's full-screen mode (F11 on desktop) plus page zoom gets you a wall-clock-sized countdown.
One counts down, one counts up — and both are a tap away, free, in your browser. Set your next Countdown Timer with a preset and a real alarm, or start the Stopwatch and let the laps do the math for you.