Guide
How to add a countdown widget on Mac
macOS has no countdown widget: the Clock app counts down minutes and hours with timers, but nothing built in shows the days left until a date on your desktop. You can get close with Calendar, Reminders or a widget from your iPhone, or add a real countdown with a widget app.
By Chris at Neon FrenchieUpdated Checked on macOS 27.0.1 on
What macOS can do instead
Count down minutes or hours with Clock timers
For anything shorter than a day, like a meeting or the oven, the Clock app is enough.
- Open the Clock app.
- Click Timers at the top of the window, or choose View, then Timers.
- Set the amount of time, then click Start.
The timer keeps going if you switch apps or your Mac sleeps, and you get a notification when it ends. To run more than one, start another and give each a name, like “Laundry”. Clock’s desktop widgets show the time, cities and your next alarm, not timers, so the countdown itself stays in the Clock window.
Keep the date in view with Calendar
- In Calendar, click Day or Week at the top of the window.
- Double-click in the all-day section at the top of the calendar, on the day you’re counting down to, and name the event.
- For a birthday or anniversary, double-click the event, click its time, and choose how often it repeats from the Repeat pop-up menu.
Then Control-click the wallpaper, choose Edit Widgets… and add a Calendar widget, so your schedule stays on the desktop. It shows the event as it comes up, not the number of days left.
Get a warning ahead of time with Reminders
- In Reminders, move the pointer over a reminder and click the Edit Details button.
- Turn on Date and pick the day. Turn on Time too if it happens at a set time.
- Use the early reminder pop-up menu to be reminded before the day itself.
Reminders’ List widget shows the reminders in a list you choose, so a list of upcoming dates can sit on your desktop too.
Use a countdown widget from your iPhone
If a countdown app on your iPhone has a widget, your Mac can show it. You need iOS 17 or later on the iPhone, the same Apple Account on both, and the iPhone nearby or on the same Wi-Fi network.
- Turn on System Settings, then Desktop & Dock, then iPhone Widgets.
- Control-click the wallpaper, choose Edit Widgets…, and find the iPhone app in the widget gallery.
- Drag its widget onto the desktop, then click Done.
If the app isn’t installed on your Mac, clicking the widget asks you to open it on your iPhone.
Countdown widget apps for Mac
| Where it shows | What it counts | Price | Requires | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Countdown widget | On the desktop, under your windows, and in the menu bar | Days to go or days since, or hours, minutes and seconds | Free. The full version is $2.99 once, or $1.99 a month or $4.99 a year | macOS 10.13 or later |
| Big Day Countdown + | In the menu bar, with an optional window that stays above your others | The time to go or since, down to the minute | $1.99 once | macOS 11.5 or later |
| BetterMacWidgets | On the desktop | A Countdown widget, free. Its site doesn't say more about it | Free. Pro is €12.99 once, or €19.99 for the Bundle with Lock Screen and custom widgets. Prices are listed in euros | macOS 15 or later, Apple silicon only |
| WidgetWall | On the desktop | Countdown and Countup widgets, premium. The listing doesn't describe them | Free. Premium is $1.99 a month or $19.99 a year. The listing also shows two lifetime purchases, $39.99 and $49.99 | macOS 12 or later |
| DeskWidgets | On the desktop | A Countdown Timer widget. The listing doesn't describe it | Free. The listing shows subscriptions from $0.99 a month and $7.49 or $9.99 a year, and one-time purchases from $2.00 to $50.00, without saying what each unlocks | macOS 12.4 or later |
| MacScapes | On the desktop, under your windows and Finder icons | Days to a date and time, hours in the last 24 hours, minutes in the last hour, then days since. Pro | Free. Pro is $19.99 once, for up to 3 Macs | macOS 14 or later, Apple silicon and Intel |
Countdown widget does one thing: a countdown for each event you add, sitting at the bottom of the desktop under your windows, with the days left or the days since. It can count in hours, minutes and seconds instead, show a countdown in the menu bar, and take your own colors, a background image and an icon. It’s a free download, with the full version at $2.99 once, and it runs on macOS 10.13 or later, so it suits an older Mac.
Big Day Countdown + lives in the menu bar instead and counts down to a time of day, to the minute. Turn on its floating window to keep the countdown above your other windows. It’s $1.99, with no free version.
If you want more than a countdown, the widget suites include one among many widgets: BetterMacWidgets keeps its Countdown widget in the free set, WidgetWall has Countdown and Countup with premium, and DeskWidgets lists a Countdown Timer. Their own pages don’t describe these widgets in detail, so check what each counts to before you pay. Our ranking of widget apps compares the rest of what they do.
Add a countdown in MacScapes
We make MacScapes, a live wallpaper app with 14 desktop widgets. Its Countdown widget takes a title and a date and time and, like the other widgets, can take its colors from the scene behind it.
- In MacScapes, open Vibes and click New Vibe, or Control-click a vibe you made and choose Edit….
- Under Widgets, click Add Widget… and choose Countdown.
- Type the event’s name where it says “Event name”, then set the date and time next to it.
- Click Arrange on Desktop… to drag the widget where you want it, then click Create Vibe (or Save when editing).
The widget shows the days to go, switches to hours in the last 24 hours and to minutes in the last hour, shows “0 days” once the moment has passed that day, then counts the days since (“1 day ago”). It updates every minute. Add it more than once for several events, and pick a size and shape for each; the widget customization guide covers the rest.
The Countdown widget is part of MacScapes Pro, at $19.99 once. Like all MacScapes widgets, it’s for reading: it sits under your windows and Finder icons and ignores clicks. If you’d rather not pay, BetterMacWidgets keeps its Countdown widget free, and Countdown widget is a free download. For timing work in blocks rather than counting to a date, see Pomodoro timers on Mac.