Online Stopwatch
Online Stopwatch
Start, stop and record laps — a clean stopwatch that counts up from zero and stays accurate even in a background tab. Just press start.
A stopwatch counts up from zero with no end point, measuring how long something takes. This free online stopwatch runs entirely in your browser with a clear, large display and lap times, and it keeps perfect time even in a background tab — so you can start it, switch away, and come back to the exact elapsed time.
What is an online stopwatch good for?
- Timing runs, swims, cycling intervals and other sports laps
- Workout intervals, HIIT rounds, planks and rest periods
- Cooking, brewing and anything you want to time without a fixed limit
- Experiments, presentations and timing how long a task really takes
- Speedcubing, typing tests, games and personal-best challenges
How to use the stopwatch
Press Start and the stopwatch counts up from zero; press it again to Pause and resume where you left off. Press Lap while it runs to record a split — each row shows that lap's own time and the total elapsed so far — and the clock keeps running so you never miss a beat. Hit Reset to clear the time and laps. You can also press the spacebar to start or pause. Need to count down instead, or count up from a past date? Open the full timer. Curious how close people get? Try our stopwatch accuracy test and see the live data.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between a lap and a split?
Each time you press Lap it records two figures. The lap time is how long that individual segment took — the time since your previous lap — and the split (shown as the total) is the overall elapsed time at the moment you pressed the button. So if you lap at 30 seconds and again at 1 minute 10, the first row shows a 30-second lap and a 30-second total, and the second row shows a 40-second lap and a 1:10 total. The clock never stops while you take a lap, so you can capture as many segments as you like without losing time.
Does the stopwatch keep accurate time if I switch tabs?
Yes. Instead of counting ticks — which browsers throttle to once per second, or once per minute, in a background tab — it records the exact wall-clock moment you pressed Start and works out the elapsed time from your device's clock on every update. That means the reading is always correct no matter how often the page actually refreshes: switch tabs, lock your phone or let the laptop sleep, and when you return the display instantly shows the true time that has passed.
Is the online stopwatch free and private?
Yes to both. It is completely free with no account, no sign-up and no app to install, and you can run it as often and as long as you like. Everything happens locally in your browser — your elapsed time and lap records are never uploaded, logged or shared, and nothing is stored after you close the tab. It is one of the free LK Forge tools, built to be useful the moment you need to time something.