How to use this Pomodoro timer
- Write down what you’ll work on. Add it to Tasks with a guess of how many Pomodoros it will take.
- Press Start (or Space) and work on that one thing until the chime. If a distraction pops into your head, jot it down and carry on.
- Take the break when it comes. Stand up, look away from the screen, drink some water. Breaks start automatically unless you turn that off.
- After four focus blocks, take a long break of 15–30 minutes. The four dots under the timer show where you are in the set.
- Check your stats at the end of the day. How many Pomodoros did each task really take compared with your guess?
Want the background? Read how the Pomodoro Technique works, or try a different rhythm such as 50/10, 52/17 or Flowtime. Looking after your eyes too? The 20-20-20 timer reminds you to look away every 20 minutes. Short attention span? Try the ADHD timer.
Why this timer stays accurate in a background tab
Browsers save battery by slowing down pages you aren’t looking at. A hidden tab gets its timers at most once a second, and Chrome goes further: after about five minutes hidden, chained timers are bundled together and run roughly once a minute. Animation frames stop altogether.
A timer that works by adding up “one more second has passed” ticks falls behind whenever a tick is late or skipped. Focus25 does it differently: when you press Start it records the exact time the block will end, and every update simply subtracts the current clock time. A delayed update can make the display lag for a moment, but it can never make the timer wrong. Drag the slider to see the difference.
Honest limits: while the tab is hidden, the countdown in the tab title may only refresh about once a minute. On phones, a locked screen can freeze the page completely; the timer is still correct when you come back, and the finished session is logged at the time it actually ended, but the chime waits until you return. For a guaranteed alarm on a locked phone, use your phone’s own clock app alongside.
What’s in the box
- Custom intervals: any focus, short-break and long-break length, and how many focus blocks come before the long break. Presets for 25/5, 50/10, 52/17 and 90/20.
- A dial you can drag to set the length, like winding a kitchen timer.
- Tasks with estimates, a current-task marker and an estimated finish time.
- A daily goal with a completion percentage, and a stats page with streaks and a 30-day chart.
- Alarm sounds generated in your browser: a soft chime, a bell or loud beeps, repeated up to five times, plus optional desktop notifications and the countdown in the tab title.
- Background noise: brown, pink or white noise, or soft rain, generated in your browser while you focus. Plus a full-screen mode.
- An AI study planner on the study timer page that turns “what I need to get done” into a Pomodoro-by-Pomodoro plan.
Questions
Is Focus25 free?
Yes. There is no account, no trial and no paid tier. Everything runs in your browser, and your tasks, settings and session history are stored in your browser’s localStorage, not on a server.
How long is a Pomodoro?
A classic Pomodoro is 25 minutes of focused work followed by a 5-minute break. After four Pomodoros you take a longer break of 15 to 30 minutes. Focus25 uses 25/5/15 by default and lets you change all three.
Does the timer keep running if I switch tabs or lock my phone?
The timer keeps correct time because it stores the moment the block ends and reads the clock, rather than counting ticks. Browsers slow down background tabs, so the on-screen countdown and tab title may only refresh once a minute while hidden, but the moment you come back the time is exact. The chime is scheduled on the audio clock so it usually plays on time in a background desktop tab. Mobile browsers may suspend a locked page entirely; in that case the chime plays when you reopen it, and your finished session is still logged at the correct time.
Can I get a notification when a block ends?
Open Timer settings and choose “Enable desktop notifications”. Your browser will ask for permission. Notifications appear when a focus block or break ends, if the page is still running.
How are tasks counted?
Give each task an estimate in Pomodoros, then tap it to make it the current task. Each completed focus block adds one to that task’s count, so you can compare estimates with reality — the habit Francesco Cirillo recommends for getting better at planning.
What happens if I skip a focus block?
Skipping moves you to the break. If you had focused for at least one minute, those minutes are logged as a partial session so your stats stay honest.
Is there a keyboard shortcut?
Space starts or pauses the timer, R resets the current block, S skips to the next phase and F toggles full screen. Shortcuts are ignored while you type in a field.
Can I play background noise or focus sounds?
Yes. Under the timer, choose brown, pink or white noise or soft rain. The sounds are generated in your browser (nothing is downloaded or streamed), play only while a focus block runs, and stop on breaks unless you tick “Keep background sound playing during breaks”.
Can I change the alarm sound?
Open Timer settings and pick a soft chime, a bell, or loud digital beeps, and repeat it up to five times so you don’t miss it.
Is the Pomodoro Technique good for ADHD?
Many people with ADHD find a visible countdown helps, especially with shorter blocks of 10–15 minutes. See our ADHD timer page for a setup with a short default, loud repeating alarm and background noise.