Free Online Pomodoro Timer

Key features

• Three modes in one timer: Pomodoro (25 min), Short Break (5 min) and Long Break (15 min). One click swaps modes, and each keeps its own duration.
• Auto-cycle: A finished Pomodoro switches straight to a Short Break, and every 4th one switches to a Long Break instead. Turn the long break off in settings if you'd rather have a short break every time.
• Cycle tracker: Four dots below the time fill one by one as you finish Pomodoros. Three filled dots mean the next one ends in a Long Break.
• Custom durations: Change any of the three default times to fit your own focus rhythm (20/5/10, 45/10/30, 50/10/20, whatever works). Values persist in your browser.
• 6 alarm tones: Radar, Beacon, Chime, Digital, Gentle and Classic, so you can pick one that signals a break without jolting you out of flow.
• Configurable repeats: The alarm plays 1-20 times in a row. Headphones on with music? Bump it up. Quiet library? Drop it to 1.
• Tab title countdown: While the timer runs, the remaining time shows in the browser tab title so you can glance without switching windows.
• Fullscreen mode: A giant clock for group focus sessions, classrooms or coworking spaces.
• Dark, light & 6 color themes: Pick a color that reads as focus mode to you, and this tab stops looking like every other tab you have open.
• Keeps running with the wifi off: Once the page has loaded, the whole cycle runs on your own device, so you can cut the connection to concentrate and the timer carries on. Just don't reload the tab until you're back online.

How to use the Pomodoro timer

Step 1: Pick a mode

Click one of the three tabs above the time: Pomodoro for focus, Short Break for a quick reset, or Long Break for a longer recharge. The time updates to match the mode you pick. Worth knowing before you click: switching tabs mid-session throws that session away, and the new mode starts from its full duration with no undo.

Step 2: Start the session

Press Start (or hit Space). The countdown begins, and the remaining time syncs into the browser tab title so you can keep working in another window without losing track.

Step 3: Pause, resume, reset

Press Pause (same button, or Space) to hold the countdown without losing progress. Press it again to continue from the same remaining time. Reset (or R) returns the current mode to its full duration.

Step 4: Let the alarm tell you to switch

When the session ends, the alarm plays and the tab title flashes. The timer moves to the next mode on its own: Pomodoro → Short Break, or Pomodoro → Long Break on every 4th one. It doesn't start that next session for you, though, so press Start when you're ready for the break. The dots below the time show where you are in the cycle.

Customize to your rhythm

Click the settings icon to change any duration, pick a different alarm sound, set how many times the alarm repeats, or toggle the automatic long break. All settings persist in your browser's localStorage.

Keyboard shortcuts (desktop)

• Space - Start / Pause the current session
• R - Reset the current session to its full duration
• F - Toggle fullscreen mode
• Esc - Close the settings modal or exit fullscreen

What is the Pomodoro Technique?

The Pomodoro Technique is a time management method invented by Francesco Cirillo in the late 1980s, while he was a university student. He used a tomato-shaped (pomodoro in Italian) kitchen timer to structure his study sessions, and found that committing to a short, non-negotiable block of focus was more sustainable than open-ended cramming.

Four rules:

1. Pick a task.
2. Work on it, and only it, for 25 minutes. This is one Pomodoro.
3. When the timer rings, take a 5-minute short break. Stand up, look out the window, grab water.
4. After every 4 Pomodoros, take a longer 15-30 minute break. This is when real recovery happens.

The trick is that each Pomodoro is indivisible: if you get interrupted, you either defer the interruption or start the Pomodoro over. That friction is what trains you to protect focus time.

Why the Pomodoro Technique works

• Fights decision fatigue. "I'll stop when I feel like it" is a decision you have to keep re-making. A 25-minute timer is one decision up front.
• Makes procrastination small. Starting an 8-hour writing project is terrifying. Starting one 25-minute Pomodoro is not.
• Protects attention. The timer is a visible commitment: no email, no Slack, no just-checking-one-thing until it rings.
• Schedules recovery. Most people know they should take breaks. Almost no one takes enough on willpower alone. The Short Break is non-optional.
• Exposes your real capacity. Counting Pomodoros per day is a blunt but honest measure of how many hours of actual focus you got, and it is usually a lot less than you think.

When to use a Pomodoro timer

Deep work & writing

Essays, research papers, code reviews, long-form writing: anything that needs 90 minutes of continuous attention and collapses the moment you check email. Stack 3-4 Pomodoros back-to-back in the morning before the day's interruptions start.

Studying & revision

Block subjects into Pomodoros: one for biology vocab, one for math problems, one for history notes. Decide before you start what the break is for, a walk or a stretch, so you actually leave the desk. For exam prep, track completed Pomodoros like practice reps, because the count is a more honest signal than "hours studied".

Programming & debugging

Debugging especially benefits: a bounded 25-minute sprint forces you to either solve the bug or admit you're stuck and need a break, or a different approach. Staring at the same stack trace for two hours rarely helps. Stepping away during a Long Break often does.

Creative work

Drawing, music practice, design iteration. A fixed timebox sidesteps perfectionism: finish something in 25 minutes, then step back and evaluate during the break.

Admin tasks & email

Batch email, invoicing, expense reports, form-filling into a single Pomodoro rather than letting them bleed through the day. The timer becomes a lid on low-value work.

ADHD & focus-challenging work

Many people with ADHD find the structure of fixed intervals much easier to engage with than open-ended "just work on it" instructions. A 15- or 20-minute Pomodoro (customize in settings) can be a gentler starting point.

Pomodoro vs regular timer vs stopwatch

• A Pomodoro timer cycles between focus and rest automatically. Use it when you want to sustain work across a full day without burning out. This page.
• A countdown timer counts down once from a duration you set. Use it for one-off countdowns: cooking, workouts, a single focus block.
• A stopwatch runs upward from zero with no target. Use it when the question is how long something actually took.

Put it this way: "work for a few hours without frying my brain" is Pomodoro. "Tell me when 15 minutes are up" is the timer. "How long did that take?" is the stopwatch.

Tips & tricks

• Actually leave the desk on breaks. A "short break" spent doomscrolling on the same screen doesn't recover the same attention a real walk does.
• Plan the first 30 seconds. Before pressing Start, decide exactly what you'll type or open. Starting fast prevents the Pomodoro from evaporating into setup.
• Guard the Long Break. The 15-30 minute break after 4 Pomodoros is the one most people skip. It's also the one the whole rhythm depends on.
• Count, don't judge. Log Pomodoros per day as a number, without grading them. Five honest ones a day is a bit over two hours of real focus, which is more than most people manage.
• Customize the durations. 25/5/15 is a starting point, not a law. Plenty of writers prefer 50/10/30, and plenty of people with ADHD prefer 15/5/20. The best Pomodoro is the one you actually finish.
• Go fullscreen for group sessions. Run the page fullscreen on a second monitor or shared screen during coworking calls and silent-study sessions.
• Pick a calm alarm. All six play at the same volume, so what differs is character, not loudness. Digital is a square wave and Radar is one hard tone repeated, and neither is easy to ignore. Chime and Gentle are three sine tones, which sit better in a shared room.

Frequently asked questions