Countdown to Date

How the days left are counted

The countdown takes the real time between now and the target moment and splits it into days, hours, minutes and seconds. The Days box counts whole 24-hour periods: if New Year is 61 days and 9 hours away, it shows 61. Calendar days tell you how many pages of the calendar are left to turn from today’s date to the target date. That number equals the nights in between, which is why it is also shown as sleeps, the easiest way to explain a countdown to children. From 31 October there are 62 calendar days, or 62 sleeps, until New Year’s Day.

Weeks, months and working days

Months are counted on the calendar: from 31 January to 1 March is 1 month and 1 day, because February has no 31st and the month end moves to the 28th. Working days are the Monday to Friday dates between today and the target day, not counting either of them. Public holidays are not subtracted, because they differ by country, state and employer. To see how many workdays are left before a vacation, set the countdown to its first day off.

Why some holidays move every year

Many holidays are not tied to a fixed date. Easter is the first Sunday after the spring full moon, so it falls between 22 March and 25 April: 28 March in 2027. In the US, Mother’s Day is the second Sunday of May, Father’s Day the third Sunday of June and Thanksgiving the fourth Thursday of November, with Black Friday the day after. Ramadan and the two Eids follow the Islamic lunar calendar, which is about 11 days shorter than the solar year, so they move earlier every year: Eid al-Fitr starts on 9 March 2027 and 26 February 2028. This tool uses the official Umm al-Qura calendar; where the start depends on local moon sighting, it can differ by a day. The Hijri date converter has more detail.

Time zones and daylight saving time

Without a time zone the target time is read in your device’s local time. For a product launch, a game or a live stream that starts somewhere else, choose that place’s zone: the countdown finds the exact moment and shows what time that is for you. The day clocks change has 23 or 25 hours; if such a change falls inside the countdown, the tool tells you and the total hours follow the real elapsed time.

How it differs from a countdown timer

The Stopwatch & Timer counts down a duration, such as ten minutes. This page counts down to a moment on the calendar. You can save and share it, and when you come back it shows the correct time left, not where it was when you closed the tab. Links to ready-made countdowns always open the next date. Everything is calculated in your browser and nothing you type is sent to a server.