10 Minute Timer
Your 10:00 countdown is already set: press Start (or Space) and an alarm sounds when ten minutes have passed. Turn on the halfway chime to hear when 5 minutes are left, or go fullscreen to show the timer to a room.
Shortcuts: Space start / pause · R reset · F fullscreen. Add ?m=8 to the address for a custom length. Keep this tab open; the countdown stays accurate in the background.
How to use the 10 Minute Timer
- Press Start or hit the Space bar. The 10:00 countdown starts straight away.
- Want a reminder midway? Tick Soft chime at the halfway mark to hear a gentle two-note chime when 5 minutes are left.
- Fine-tune the length with +1 min / −1 min, or choose another preset from 5 to 30 minutes.
- Pick an alarm sound and volume, then press Play test sound to make sure you will hear it.
- When time is up, press Stop alarm or Space, or +1 min to snooze for one more minute. Press R to reset to 10:00.
How long is 10 minutes?
| Measure | 10 minutes equals |
|---|---|
| Seconds | 600 s |
| Milliseconds | 600,000 ms |
| Hours | 0.1667 h (1/6 of an hour) |
| Share of a day | 0.694% (1/144 of a day) |
| Walking at 5 km/h (3.1 mph) | about 0.83 km (0.52 mi) |
| Speaking at 130 words per minute | about 1,300 words |
| Silent reading at 230 words per minute | about 2,300 words |
What you can get done in 10 minutes
| Activity | Why 10 minutes works |
|---|---|
| Power nap | A 10 to 20 minute nap refreshes you without the grogginess of deep sleep |
| Cooking | Hard-boiled eggs (about 10 to 12 min after the water boils) and many dried pastas (8 to 12 min) |
| Workout | A short bodyweight or HIIT circuit, for example 10 rounds of 40 s work and 20 s rest |
| Meditation | A common length for guided breathing or body-scan sessions |
| Presentations | A 10 minute talk is roughly 1,300 spoken words; turn on the halfway chime to pace yourself |
| Study and homework | A focused sprint followed by a short break helps you get started on a big task |
| Tidying | The "10 minute tidy": one room, one timer, stop when it rings |
How the countdown keeps exact time
When you press Start, the timer records the end moment as start time + 600,000 ms on the browser's monotonic clock (performance.now()). Every screen update simply subtracts the current time from that end moment, rather than counting ticks, so a throttled background tab or a busy computer cannot make it fall behind. A separate one-shot timer is set for the end moment to trigger the alarm.
Pausing stores the time left, for example 6:42, and Resume sets a new end moment 6 minutes 42 seconds in the future. The halfway chime is triggered the first time the remaining time drops to half of the total, so on a 10 minute timer it plays at 5:00; if you add minutes before it has played, the halfway point moves to half of the new total.
Frequently asked questions
How do I set a timer for 10 minutes?
There is nothing to set: the timer opens at 10:00. Press Start or the Space bar and it counts down to 0:00, then rings until you press Stop alarm.
How many seconds are in 10 minutes?
10 minutes is 600 seconds, or 600,000 milliseconds. That is one sixth of an hour (about 0.167 hours).
What does the halfway chime do?
When it is switched on, the timer plays a short, quiet two-note chime once when half of the countdown has passed, which is 5:00 left on a 10 minute timer. It is useful for presentations, exams and workouts where you want to pace yourself.
Does the timer stay accurate if I switch to another tab?
Yes. The timer remembers the exact moment it should end and always calculates the time left from the system clock, so browser throttling in background tabs cannot make it run slow. Keep the tab open and do not let your computer sleep.
Can I use a different length?
Yes. Use the presets for 5, 15, 20, 25 or 30 minutes, the +1 min and −1 min buttons, or add ?m= followed by a number of minutes to the page address (for example ?m=12) to open the timer at that length.
Why is there no sound when the timer ends?
Make sure your device and the browser tab are not muted and the volume slider is up, then press Play test sound. Browsers only allow sound after you interact with the page, which pressing Start does.