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Timer FAQs
How do I start a countdown timer?
It is really straightforward - look at all those buttons above, click any of them to start a countdown for the time indicated on the button. When the time runs out you'll hear a sound notification. It's a true 1-click process!
What if there's no button for the timer I want?
You can specify custom target time and hit the Custom button to start a custom timer. That is limited to the next 24 hours though.
That's all the configuration this utility has to offer. If that's not good enough for you then look elsewhere.
What's the difference between Simple timers and Event timers?
Simple timers run for a specified period of time from the moment you click a button. For example, the 10m button starts a 10 minutes countdown.
Event timers track remaining time until some target event like meetings start/end times, training session breaks, broadcasts start time, etc. So, starting an event timer for 5:00 PM will track remaining time until end of the working day (supposedly ;)).
What's Event name?
When starting an Event timer you can optionally specify Event name. Whatever you enter will be showed along with the countdown clock. This might be useful if you are sharing or projecting your screen with the timer for others to see. Also, it can help you differentiate between many running timers tracking multiple events.
Can I start multiple timers?
Yes, in order to do that, open nobsutils.com/timer in multiple browser tabs and setup each timer as needed.
How do I make the timer display bigger?
First, check the Expand view box when you start a timer. That will put the timer display on top of everything else on this page. Then use your browser controls (Ctrl++ or Ctrl+-) to increase or decrease text size. When in expanded view, you can also hit F11 to go full screen.
Is the timer state saved if I close the browser tab?
Current timer state is persisted in the address URL. If you reopen the closed tab (Ctrl+Shift+T) you can get back to where you left off. However, doing that will have the sound notification switched off so make sure to switch it back on if you need to. Check the next tip below for more details.
Any other tips?
Here's a more advanced tip - timers can be started directly from the address URL like this:
- https://nobsutils/timer
#+300- starts a new 5 minutes timer (300s = 5m) - https://nobsutils/timer
#@17:00- Starts a countdown until 5 PM. The accepted time format is hh:mm in 24-hours style. - https://nobsutils/timer
#Coffee break@14:45- Starts an event timer named "Coffee break" with target time 2:45 PM
Keep in mind that any timer started from the address bar will have its sound notification switched off by default. This is a requirement by your browser so you'll have to switch it on manually.