How to set a timer on a Mac
Yes, your Mac has a timer. Apple brought the Clock app to the Mac in macOS Ventura, with the timers, alarms and world clocks you know from iPhone. The catch is that the countdown lives in a window you have to keep finding. Here are the built-in ways, and a free way to keep the time left in view.
1. The Clock app
Open Clock (Spotlight, then type Clock), click Timers at the top of the window or choose View → Timers, set the duration and click Start. Pause, Resume and Cancel are right there. The timer keeps going when you switch apps or the Mac sleeps, and you can name it and pick the sound it plays.
2. Ask Siri
Say something like "Set a pizza timer for 12 minutes" and Siri starts it in Clock. For timers you set often, Apple suggests building a shortcut you can run from the menu bar or with Siri.
3. Several timers, and stopping music
Click Add in the top-right of Timers to run more than one at once, using a custom length or a preset. The "When timer ends" menu has a Stop Playing option at the bottom, which pauses audio or video when time is up: a handy sleep timer.
4. A timer you can actually see
Notchy (free) puts the countdown on the MacBook notch, visible over whatever app you're in. Tap a preset of 1, 2, 3, 5, 10 or 25 minutes or drag a custom length; hover the running timer to pause it, add a minute or stop it. A stopwatch and a Pomodoro mode sit beside it.
Everything Notchy does, for free
- Fluid Dynamic Island animations on the Mac notch
- Command palette (⌃⌥K) — every action one keystroke away
- Knock — double-tap a modifier key to open the notch
- AI usage tracker (Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, Copilot)
- Detach any tab into a menu-bar popover
- Now Playing music controls (Apple Music & Spotify)
- Time-synced karaoke lyrics under the notch
- Mac clipboard history shelf (password-manager safe)
- Searchable clipboard — filter by text, file name, or OCR'd words
- On-device OCR — copy a screenshot, get its text (Apple Vision)
- Window snapping — drag a window to the notch to tile it
- App Launcher — pin apps to the notch, open with one tap
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- Text snippets — TextExpander-style pastes from the ⌘K palette
- One-tap screen capture to clipboard + shelf
- Color eyedropper — sample any pixel, hex auto-copied
- System-wide mic mute for every meeting app at once
- Keystroke HUD for demos & screencasts (secure-input safe)
- Keyboard cleaning lock with countdown island (⌘⎋ unlocks)
- Menu-bar icon hiding — Bartender-style separator & chevron
- Live CPU / memory / network stats flyout
- Custom islands through the local developer API (off by default)
- iPhone-style call island — Answer/Decline FaceTime on the notch
- Notch Terminal — real VT100/xterm shell in a PTY, its own tab
- Camera Guard — alert (or block) when any app opens your camera
- Caps Lock HUD — brief island on every toggle
- Full Charge island with adjustable threshold + low-battery sound
- Alt HUD styles — edge-pinned bar or circular gauge off the notch
- Audio-reactive Now Playing visualizer (real FFT of system audio)
- Custom closed-notch idle animation — drop in your own Lottie JSON
- Drag-and-drop file drop shelf — persists across relaunches
- Zip & unzip files right from the shelf
- Image converter (HEIC, PNG, JPEG, TIFF, PDF) + video → GIF
- Run Apple Shortcuts with one tap
- Screenshots auto-staged on the shelf, ready to drag
- Download finished alerts with Reveal in Finder
- USB drive mount island with one-tap Eject
- Apple Reminders quick capture & due list
- macOS Pomodoro notch timer & stopwatch — streaks + 7-day chart
- Resizable expanded panel (width & height, live preview)
- System HUDs (volume, brightness, battery)
- Audio output switcher (speakers, AirPods, monitor)
- AirPods connection manager & battery
- Magic Mouse, Keyboard & Trackpad battery + low-battery alerts
- Quick notes & Calendar widgets
- Camera Mirror (check your appearance)
- Keep Awake (caffeine toggle)
- Teleprompter (Cuely) for Zoom calls
- Focus-aware alerts & native haptic feedback
- Lock screen widgets & hide-the-notch mode
- 134 languages, fully localized
- Native SwiftUI, tuned for Apple silicon
Timers on Mac — FAQ
Is there a timer app on Mac?
Yes. The Clock app has been on the Mac since macOS Ventura and includes timers, alarms and world clocks. Press Command-Space and type Clock to open it.
Can Siri set a timer on my Mac?
Yes. Ask something like "Set a pizza timer for 12 minutes". You get a notification when it ends, with options to stop it or repeat it.
Can I run more than one timer?
Yes, in Clock: click Add in the top-right of the Timers view and choose a custom timer or a preset. Each one can have its own name and sound.
How do I keep a timer on screen while I work?
Clock's window disappears behind whatever you're doing. Notchy shows the countdown on the notch instead, where it stays visible over other apps, and its lock screen widgets can show a running timer too.
Can a Mac timer stop music when it ends?
Yes. In Clock, choose Stop Playing at the bottom of the "When timer ends" sound menu before you start the timer.
Does Notchy's timer work on a Mac without a notch?
Yes. Notchy runs on macOS 13 Ventura or later, on Intel and Apple silicon, and on Macs without a notch it draws the island at the top of the screen.