20 second timer
Twenty seconds is the time health authorities recommend for scrubbing your hands with soap.
Ready
Ends 20 seconds after you press Start.
Free, no sign-up — runs in your browser. Nothing you set is sent anywhere.
Keyboard: Space start or pause, R reset, F full screen.
20 seconds in other units
- Seconds
- 20
- Share of a minute
- 33.3%
- a third of a minute
- Milliseconds
- 20,000
- On the timer
- 00:20
What a 20 second timer is good for
- Handwashing. The CDC recommends scrubbing your hands with soap for at least 20 seconds — about as long as humming "Happy Birthday" twice.
- Tabata intervals. The Tabata format is eight rounds of 20 seconds of hard work and 10 seconds of rest, four minutes in all.
- Eye breaks. The 20-20-20 rule: every 20 minutes, look at something about 20 feet away for 20 seconds.
To run a full Tabata workout — eight rounds of 20 seconds on and 10 off — use the interval timer, which counts the rounds for you. Open the interval timer
Other timers
Timer modes
About this timer
The countdown runs against your device's clock from the moment you press Start, so it stays accurate in a background tab. The line under the digits shows the local time it will end. Pick one of ten alarm sounds, all generated in your browser (hear them on the countdown sounds page), and use full screen to read the time from across a room. Need a different length? Set a custom timer.
Related
Frequently asked questions
How do I set a timer for 20 seconds?
This page is already set to 20 seconds. Press Start, or the Space bar, and the countdown begins; when it reaches zero, the alarm sounds and the page shows Time's up. Pause stops the clock and Reset takes it back to 20 seconds.
How long is 20 seconds in minutes?
20 seconds is a third of a minute (0.33 minutes).
How long should I wash my hands?
Scrub with soap for at least 20 seconds before rinsing, according to the CDC. Start the timer when you begin to lather and keep going until the alarm.
Will the alarm go off if I switch tabs or lock my phone?
In a background tab on a computer, yes. The countdown is worked out from the real clock and the alarm is scheduled with the browser's sound engine when you press Start, so it stays on time. Phones often pause web pages while the screen is locked, so the sound may wait until you unlock; keep the screen on (the timer asks the browser to do that where it can) and the volume up. You can also turn on "Notify me when time's up" for a system notification. When you come back to the page, it shows the right state straight away.