30 Second Timer

Press Start to count down 30 seconds.

This free 30 second timer counts down 30 seconds with a shrinking red disc you can read at a glance. 30 seconds is 30 seconds (thirty seconds). It covers one quadrant of toothbrushing, a plank and a short elevator pitch.

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What a 30 second timer is good for

Thirty seconds is half a minute, short enough for anyone to commit to. It is the unit dentists use when they suggest brushing each quarter of the mouth, and the length of a punchy pitch.

Toothbrushing by quadrant

Divide the mouth into four quarters and brush each for thirty seconds, two minutes in total.

Plank holds

Thirty seconds is a solid plank target for beginners and a common interval in circuit training.

A thirty second pitch

Practise introducing yourself or your project in thirty seconds, a common speed-networking format.

Microwave checks

Stir food every thirty seconds when reheating so it heats evenly.

To pace yourself, glance at the disc rather than the numbers. With the 30 second timer running, half the colour has gone after 15 seconds, and when only a quarter is left you have 7 seconds to wrap up. Open fullscreen if the timer needs to be read across a room, and add a label so everyone knows what the 30 seconds are for.

How to use the 30 second timer

  1. It is ready

    The dial is already set to 30 seconds. To change it, drag the disc, tap a preset or open Custom.

  2. Press Start

    Or press the Space bar. The red disc shrinks back towards 12 o’clock as the time runs down.

  3. Watch the disc

    Read the time left at a glance, or open fullscreen for a big dial that fills the screen.

  4. Time’s up

    Your alarm plays until you press Stop. Press Reset or R to run the same time again.

30 seconds in other units

30 seconds equals
Seconds30
Milliseconds30,000
Minutes0.5
Fraction of a day1/2880

Why use this timer

Why a visual timer helps

A shrinking disc turns time into something you can see. You read how much is left at a glance, without doing sums on a clock, and an invisible deadline feels less stressful when you can watch it approach. That is why visual timers are a staple in classrooms and are widely used by people with ADHD and autistic children and adults. Read our guide to using a visual timer, how it helps with ADHD time blindness, classroom transitions and autism.

Why this timer is accurate

The countdown is anchored to your device clock rather than counted in animation frames. It does not drift if you switch tabs or your screen sleeps: it keeps running in the background and still sounds the alarm on time. When you come back, the disc jumps straight to the correct position.

Frequently asked questions

30 seconds is simply 30 seconds, which is 0.5 of a minute or 30,000 milliseconds.

Brushing each quarter of the mouth, a thirty second plank, practising a short pitch or stirring food at regular intervals in the microwave.

Yes. The 30 second countdown is anchored to your device clock rather than counted frame by frame, so it stays accurate in a background tab and the alarm still fires when the 30 seconds are up.

No. The 30 second timer runs in your browser on phone, tablet and desktop. It is free, and there is no account, app or download.

Yes. Press the fullscreen button or the F key. The dial fills the screen, so the remaining part of the 30 seconds is readable from the back of the room.

Yes, once this page has loaded. Nothing is sent over the network while the 30 seconds count down, so a dropped connection will not stop the timer.

Thirty seconds is half a minute, or 0.5 minutes.

Two minutes in total, which is four rounds of this 30 second timer, one for each quarter of the mouth.

At least twenty seconds of scrubbing. A 30 second timer covers scrubbing and a quick rinse.

Yes. Restart it after each alarm to move round the mouth or through a circuit in thirty second steps.

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