15 Minute Timer
A ready-to-go 15:00 countdown -- press Start, or set a different duration below if you need one.
Keyboard: Space start/pause, R reset, Esc stop alarm.
What a 15 minute timer is used for
- a classic "quarter of an hour" short break at work
- the duration behind Andy Warhol's "15 minutes of fame"
- a longer break after several Pomodoro-style focus sessions
- a quick room clean or laundry-fold sprint
- a short guided workout or mobility routine
Why 15 minutes
Fifteen minutes -- a quarter of an hour -- is a genuinely standard unit: many workplaces structure short paid rest breaks around it, and it's long enough for a real reset without eating into a whole hour. It's also the number behind Andy Warhol's famous 1968 line about everyone having "15 minutes of fame," a comment on fleeting media attention that turned the specific duration into cultural shorthand.
15 minutes = 900 seconds = 1/4 hour
How it stays accurate
Like every timer on this site, this one never counts down by subtracting one second at a time -- it records the exact target end timestamp the moment you press Start, then recomputes the time left from that fixed target on every screen update. Switching tabs, minimizing the window, or letting the browser throttle a background tab doesn't cost any accuracy, because the next update still does the subtraction fresh rather than trying to catch up on missed ticks. The alarm itself is synthesized with the Web Audio API -- no audio file, nothing an ad blocker could interfere with -- and repeats until you stop it with the Escape key, the Stop alarm button, or by starting a new countdown.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a 15 minute timer good for?
A few common uses: a classic "quarter of an hour" short break at work; the duration behind Andy Warhol's "15 minutes of fame"; a longer break after several Pomodoro-style focus sessions.
How long is 15 minutes in other units?
15 minutes = 900 seconds = 1/4 hour.
Does this 15 minute timer stay accurate if I switch tabs?
Yes -- it stores the exact moment the countdown should end and recomputes the time left from that fixed target on every update, rather than counting ticks, so a background tab that gets throttled for a while doesn't cost any accuracy.
Why is 15 minutes a notable duration?
Fifteen minutes -- a quarter of an hour -- is a genuinely standard unit: many workplaces structure short paid rest breaks around it, and it's long enough for a real reset without eating into a whole hour. It's also the number behind Andy Warhol's famous 1968 line about everyone having "15 minutes of fame," a comment on fleeting media attention that turned the specific duration into cultural shorthand.