Countdown Timer for Mac: Every Way to Run One

“Countdown timer” covers two quite different jobs, and the best tool on a Mac depends on which one you have:

• A duration: 25 minutes of focus, a 10-minute break, a 45-minute presentation. You start it, and it rings when it’s done.
• A date: 23 days until an exam, 92 until a trip. It runs for weeks and you want to glance at it, not listen for it.

macOS is good at the first out of the box. The second needs a little more, and it’s covered at the end.

Timers for minutes and hours

The Clock app

Since macOS Ventura, every Mac has a Clock app, the same one as on iPhone and iPad. Open it from Launchpad or Spotlight (press ⌘ Space and type “Clock”), click Timers, set a duration, and start it. When the time’s up, you get a notification with a sound.

It’s the simplest option and needs nothing installed. Its limits: the countdown is only visible while the Clock window is open, and it’s built for durations, so there’s no way to count down to a date.

Siri

If Siri is turned on, say or type “Set a timer for 20 minutes.” Siri uses the Clock app’s timer, so it rings the same way. It’s the fastest way to start a timer without taking your hands off what you’re doing.

Terminal

For the command-line inclined, one line does the job:

sleep 1500 && say "Time's up"

That waits 1,500 seconds (25 minutes) and then speaks. Swap say for afplay /System/Library/Sounds/Glass.aiff if you’d rather hear a sound. There’s no visible countdown, but it’s handy inside scripts.

Web timers

A timer website runs in any browser, needs no install, and many show large numbers you can put on a second screen or a projector, which is useful for presentations, classrooms, and exams. The downside is the same as any tab: it’s easy to lose behind other windows, and closing the tab stops it.

Menu bar timer apps

If you run timers all day, for pomodoros or billing, a menu bar timer app is worth installing. The time left sits in the menu bar, visible whatever window you’re in, and starting a timer is one click. Search the Mac App Store for “timer” or “pomodoro” and look for a native app with a keyboard shortcut to start and stop.

Presenting with a countdown timer

For a talk, a meeting, or a timed exam, you usually want the audience or the room to see the time left:

• One screen: a full-screen web timer works well. Press Control ⌘ F in most browsers to go full screen.
• Two screens: put the timer on the display the room sees, and keep your notes on the other. In Keynote’s presenter display, you can show a timer counting down or up, which only you see.
• An exam: count down to the end time, not the length, so a late start doesn’t shortchange anyone.

Counting down days instead of minutes

A timer that runs for weeks isn’t really a timer: you don’t want an alarm, you want to see the number whenever you look up. The built-in apps don’t do that. Your options:

• A web countdown to a date. Free and instant. Our event countdown takes a name, a date, and a start time, and has a link you can bookmark. There are ready-made ones for exams, deadlines, Christmas, and every other occasion.
• A widget. Some countdown apps include desktop widgets. They look great, but they hide behind your windows. Our article on countdown widgets for Mac covers the trade-offs.
• The menu bar. The one place windows don’t cover. See how to put a countdown in the Mac menu bar, including a free way to do it with a short script.
• The notch. On a MacBook with a notch, the space around it is visible all day and otherwise unused.

That last one is what we built Notchiko for. It’s a small Mac app that puts a character by the notch for each date you’re counting down to, with the days left underneath. Hover over the notch and every countdown opens into a card. On Macs without a notch, it shows as a small floating pill instead. The free version counts down to Christmas and one date of your own, plus 3 birthdays; a one-time $4.99 upgrade allows up to 25. It also has timers that show the time by the notch: a Pomodoro timer, a focus timer that counts down once from 5 to 60 minutes, and a stopwatch with laps.

Which should you use?

Not sure yet? Start with a free countdown to a date and see how often you find yourself checking it.