A countdown timer for any date
Set the date and time of your event and the countdown timer shows how many days, hours, minutes and seconds are left until it starts, updated every second. Name it, and share it as a link, so friends, family or your team count down to the same moment. Once the date has passed, it counts up and shows how long ago it was.
People use it for a birthday, a vacation, a wedding, a product launch, an exam, a concert or the last day at work. The holiday buttons set up the next New Year, Valentine's Day, Easter, Halloween, Thanksgiving or Christmas in one click.
How it handles time zones and daylight saving
An event happens at one moment in one place. The countdown reads your date and time in the time zone you pick, which is your own by default, and turns it into that exact moment with the time zone database built into your browser. When someone in another part of the world opens your share link, they count down to the same moment, and the page shows the event time in your zone as well as in theirs.
Daylight saving time is part of that database. If the clocks change between now and your event, the countdown still ends exactly on time, because it counts real hours rather than calendar hours. On the night the clocks spring forward, one hour does not exist, for example 2:30 AM in New York; if you pick such a time, the countdown tells you and uses the time the clocks actually show.
How the holiday dates are worked out
- Fixed dates: New Year on January 1, Valentine's Day on February 14, Halloween on October 31 and Christmas on December 25.
- Easter: Western Easter Sunday, calculated with the standard Gregorian method: the first Sunday after the first church full moon on or after March 21.
- Thanksgiving: the US holiday on the fourth Thursday of November.
Each button picks the next date that is still ahead in the selected time zone, starting at midnight. For a quick answer without setting anything up, each popular holiday also has its own page with the days and weeks left and the dates for the next years, for example how many days until Christmas:
- Christmas
- New Year
- Halloween
- Thanksgiving
- Easter
- Valentine's Day
- Mother's Day
- Father's Day
- 4th of July
- Black Friday
- Labor Day
- Memorial Day
- St. Patrick's Day
How to use the countdown timer
- 1Enter a name for your event, the date and the time. Leave the time at 00:00 to count down to the start of the day.
- 2Check the time zone. It starts with yours; pick the zone where the event takes place if it is somewhere else.
- 3Copy the share link to send the countdown, or press Add to calendar to save the event in your calendar app.
Frequently asked questions
What do people see when I share my countdown link?
The link carries the event name, the date, the time and the time zone. Whoever opens it counts down to the same moment, wherever they are, and sees the event time in your zone plus the matching time in their own.
Does the countdown handle daylight saving time?
Yes. The date and time are read in the time zone you pick, using the time zone database built into your browser, which knows every clock change. If the clocks change before your event, the countdown still ends at the right moment.
What happens when the date has passed?
The countdown turns around and counts up, showing how long ago the event was. Handy for anniversaries, a quit date or the day a project went live.
How does Add to calendar work?
It downloads a small .ics file with your event. Open it and your calendar app adds the event at the right time, whether you use Google Calendar, Apple Calendar or Outlook. The time is stored in UTC, so it shows correctly in any time zone.
Is my event saved anywhere?
No. The countdown runs in your browser and nothing is sent to a server. To keep it, bookmark the page after you set it up, or copy the share link; everything needed is in the link.