How the birthday countdown works
Enter a date of birth and the countdown finds the next time that day comes around. If your birthday has already passed this year, it counts to next year's. On the day itself it says your birthday is today.
Because you entered the year you were born, it also shows the age you're about to turn. Counting down to someone else's birthday? Add their name and the result reads “Sam's birthday is in 25 days!” instead.
The big number is calendar days: how many more mornings until the birthday. The line underneath is the exact time left until midnight at the start of the day, in your time zone.
Born on February 29?
Leap-day birthdays only exist every four years (strictly, in years divisible by 4, except century years not divisible by 400). In other years this countdown counts to February 28, which is the day many leap-day babies celebrate. Others prefer March 1; if that's you, enter March 1 instead.
Share a birthday countdown
Share this countdown creates a link with the birthday and name built in, so the person you send it to sees the same countdown straight away. It's a nice way to remind a group chat that a birthday is coming up, or to let a child watch the days drop.
Your date stays private. It's kept in the part of the link after the #, which browsers don't send to websites, and nothing you type is saved or sent anywhere.
Birthday countdown ideas
- A month or more out: book the restaurant, venue, or trip. Popular places fill up on weekends.
- Two to three weeks out: send invitations and order anything personalized, like a cake or a printed gift, which often needs extra lead time.
- The last week: for kids, a countdown makes the wait part of the fun. Cross off a day each morning.
Planning something bigger for the same person? The anniversary and graduation countdowns work the same way.
On a Mac? See how to keep this countdown visible on your Mac.
