20 second timer
A twenty second timer with a sound at the end. Twenty seconds turns up in three unrelated places: the scrub in handwashing guidance, the work interval in Tabata, and the screen break in the 20-20-20 rule.
00:20
RingBar
Presets
Take it with you in the app
This tool runs in your browser. Want it on your phone, with voice cues, background timing and a real alarm? Open the same tool in NanoTimer.
Open on your phoneOpens NanoTimer on your iPhone and starts right away.
Download on theApp StoreLink coming soon
How it works
- Tap Start and let the ring run down.
- Handwashing: scrub for the full twenty, which is longer than it feels.
- Tabata: twenty seconds on, ten off, eight rounds. For the whole sequence use the Tabata timer rather than this single countdown.
- Screen break: look at something far away until the tone sounds.
Frequently asked questions
- Why twenty seconds for handwashing?
- Because that is roughly how long scrubbing takes to actually remove germs. The CDC puts it at twenty seconds, and evidence suggests washing for about fifteen to thirty seconds removes more than shorter attempts. It is longer than most people wash unprompted, which is why a timer helps.
- What is the 20-20-20 rule?
- Every twenty minutes, look at something about twenty feet away for twenty seconds. The American Optometric Association recommends it for screen use. Worth knowing: the evidence for those exact numbers is thin, so treat it as a sensible prompt to break your focus rather than a precise prescription.
- Is twenty seconds the Tabata work interval?
- Yes. A Tabata block is twenty seconds of work and ten of rest, repeated eight times, so four minutes in total. This page is the single twenty second countdown; the Tabata timer runs the full eight rounds for you.