Sand Timer Online – Free Hourglass Timer for Any Time

Like a real hourglass, the sand drains from the top to the bottom as time passes — but this one can be set to any length, from a few seconds to an hour, and it plays a chime when it’s done.

Sand timers are calm and easy to read, which makes them popular in classrooms, speech therapy and board games.

Ideas for using it

Board games and word games
Calm-down corners
Speech and occupational therapy
Timed turns

How to use the timer

Tap a time (or type your own, like 7, 2:30 or 1h 15m) and press Start.
Use Full screen on a supported browser to show the timer on a projector, smartboard or TV. Check the actual display before relying on it.
When the time is up, the timer shows Time’s up! and attempts to play a chime if sound is on. Keep the device awake and test the audio first. Reset prepares another round.

Timers by length

Quick countdowns · up to 2 minutes

Short activities · 3–20 minutes

Longer sessions · 25 minutes and up

Add this sand timer to your website

Teachers can put it on a class website or Google Sites page: paste this free, ad-free embed code into a page that allows iframes. Full screen also depends on the host page and browser allowing it. Check the preview and adjust the iframe height in your site editor if it is clipped; test the published page before an activity.

<iframe id="vt-sand-timer" src="https://visualtimer.org/embed/sand-timer/" title="Sand Timer" width="100%" height="560" style="border:0;max-width:960px" allow="fullscreen; screen-wake-lock" allowfullscreen loading="lazy"></iframe>
<p style="font-size:13px;margin:4px 0 0">Sand timer by <a href="https://visualtimer.org/sand-timer/">visualtimer.org</a></p>
<script>addEventListener('message',function(e){if(e.origin==='https://visualtimer.org'&&e.data&&e.data.vtHeight&&e.data.path==='/embed/sand-timer/'){var f=document.getElementById('vt-sand-timer');if(f)f.style.height=e.data.vtHeight+'px'}})</script>

Preview the embed ↗

More timers

Countdowns

Frequently asked questions

How long is a normal sand timer?

Physical sand timers usually come in 1, 3, 5 and 10 minutes. This one can be set to any time.

Will the timer keep running if I switch tabs?

The timer calculates the remaining time from an end time and can catch up after a delayed update. Browsers can throttle or suspend hidden pages, so an alarm may be delayed. Keep the timer visible and the device awake when timing matters; sleeping devices and closed tabs are not supported.