A 4:00 countdown, set and ready: press Start (or Space) and the alarm rings after four minutes. A full Tabata workout, a cup of tea or a short presentation fits neatly inside.
4:00
Ready
Presets
Shortcuts: Space start / pause · R reset · F fullscreen. Add ?m=3 to the address for a custom length. Keep this tab open; the countdown stays accurate in the background.
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How to use the 4 Minute Timer
Press Start or hit the Space bar. The 4:00 countdown begins immediately.
Want a reminder midway? Tick Soft chime at the halfway mark to hear a gentle chime at 2:00 left.
Fine-tune the length with the ± buttons or pick another preset.
Choose an alarm sound and volume, then press Play test sound to check you can hear it.
When time is up, press Stop alarm or Space. Press R to reset to 4:00.
How long is 4 minute?
Measure
4 Minute equals
Minutes
4 min
Seconds
240 s
Milliseconds
240,000 ms
Hours
0.06667 h
Share of a day
0.278% (1/360 of a day)
Walking at 5 km/h (3.1 mph)
about 0.33 km (0.21 mi)
Speaking at 130 words per minute
about 520 words
Reading at 230 words per minute
about 920 words
What you can do in 4 minute
Activity
Why 4 minute works
Tabata workout
Eight rounds of 20 s work + 10 s rest add up to exactly 4 minutes
Black tea
Many black teas taste best after 3 to 5 minutes of steeping
Pitch or demo
About 520 spoken words, enough for a tight product demo
Medium-boiled egg
Around 4 to 5 minutes for a jammy yolk
Mile run goal
The famous four-minute mile barrier
Plank challenge
A tough but popular core endurance goal
How the countdown keeps exact time
When you press Start, the timer records the end moment as start time + 240,000 ms on the browser's monotonic clock (performance.now()). Every screen update subtracts the current time from that end moment instead of counting ticks, so a throttled background tab or a busy computer cannot make it fall behind. Pausing stores the time left, and Resume sets a new end moment that far in the future.
Frequently asked questions
How do I set a timer for 4 minutes?
The timer opens at 4:00. Press Start or the Space bar and it counts down to zero, then rings until you press Stop alarm.
How many seconds are in 4 minutes?
4 minutes is 240 seconds or 240,000 milliseconds, which is 1/15 of an hour.
Why is Tabata 4 minutes long?
The original Tabata protocol is 8 rounds of 20 seconds of maximum effort followed by 10 seconds of rest: 8 × 30 s = 4 minutes.
When does the halfway chime play?
If switched on, a soft chime plays once at 2:00 left.
Can I add more time?
Yes. Press +1 min at any time, or −1 min to shorten it. When the alarm rings, +1 min works as a snooze.
Does it stay accurate in a background tab?
Yes. It calculates the time left from the clock and the stored end time, so background throttling cannot slow it down.