Example: counting down to a flight
It’s Thursday, October 29, 2026 at 3:00 PM, and a flight leaves on Saturday, December 19 at 6:30 AM. On the calendar that’s 50 days, 15 hours and 30 minutes. Clocks go back an hour on November 1 in most of the U.S., so an extra hour really passes, and the live countdown shows 50 days 16 hours 30 minutes. That’s 51 sleeps, with 36 weekdays in between.
What the numbers mean
- Sleeps are the nights left. The day before the event, there’s 1.
- Weekdays, weekends and Fridays are counted from tomorrow to the day before. To skip public holidays as well, use the business days calculator.
- The progress bar shows how much of the wait has passed since the countdown was set up.
- Without a time, the countdown runs to midnight at the start of the day. Once the date passes, it turns into a count-up of the time since.
Sharing and showing it
Share link copies a link with the name, date and time. Whoever opens it counts down to that moment in their own time zone. Full screen shows the timer in large numbers for a TV or classroom board, and Add to calendar saves the date to your phone or computer calendar. Your countdown is also kept in this browser, so it’s still there after you close it or restart the computer.
To keep it in view all the time, open Put it on your desktop. It gives you a link that the free Plash app (Mac) or Lively Wallpaper (Windows) shows on your desktop, ticking live, either on top of your own wallpaper or on one of several backgrounds.