Countdown Calculator

3, 2, 1, go: our countdown calculator will tell you how much you have to count for a countdown between any two dates. Keep reading this short article to learn:

• What is a countdown, and why are we interested in them?
• How to calculate a countdown between two dates.
• Calculate a countdown timer: hours, minutes, and seconds to any date and time.

And much more. Are you ready? Three... Two... One... Zero!

A countdown is a counter of the time that still has to elapse before a defined date and time. Countdowns take the form of a decreasing sequence of numbers, which can be years, months, days, and on more minor scales, hours, minutes, and seconds.

The last step of a countdown counter is zero. When all the numbers decrease to this point, we finally reach the desired date or time.

Countdowns have a special place in our minds. On one side, they create and fuel our expectations for some events. Who didn't count down the days before their birthday as kids in trepidation? We can also use them to value the days we have left before an undesired event even more. How many days are left before going back to work?

On the other side, they place an event in a particular moment: think of a rocket about to launch into the depth of space. The trickling of seconds, one after the other, marks the impending moment the result of our ingenuity will, hopefully, take flight. We know when it will happen, to the second, and we look forward to that moment.

We both live for the countdown itself, the excitement of a date getting closer, and for the moment, the countdown will go to zero.

To calculate a countdown, simply perform a subtraction between two dates and times. This operation may sound straightforward, but our calendar's design makes it quite a task. If you want to calculate the starting point of your countdown counter, you can follow these easy steps:

1. Count the difference between the days of the final and initial date. Consider the length of the months in this step, as there are slight differences between the durations in days.
2. Count the (adjusted) difference in months (and borrow twelve if needed from the years).
3. Count the difference in adjusted years.

You can ignore the difference in months and years and consider only the total number of days between two dates. This will make your counting much more manageable. To do so, count the number of days in the initial and final month, and sum them to the number of days of "full" months between the dates. Once again, keep in mind the different durations of months.

Now it's time to start the countdown counter. Start by decreasing by one the number of days every day. You'll soon reach 0!

The calculation for the difference in hours, minutes, and seconds is similar: Start with the seconds and proceed, eventually borrowing $60$ seconds from the minutes or $60$ minutes from one hour. If the countdown crosses a day, take $24$ hours from the countdown you calculated before, and reduce it by one day.

Counting down hours, minutes, and seconds is slightly different. Start your countdown timer from the seconds, and be quick about it; they flow fast! Once you reach $0$ seconds, decrease the minutes by one, and start again with $60$ seconds (do this operation instantaneously: $0$ and $60$ share the exact moment in time). Once the minutes reach $0$, decrease the hours by one and start again with a $60$ minutes buffer.

In a while, you'll say loud the famous words "three... two... one... zero!": your countdown timer comes to an end!

You reached the end of our countdown calculator. Are you interested in other tools to help you wait for a special event? Try our:

• Vacation countdown calculator;
• Retirement countdown calculator;
• Birthday countdown calculator;
• Time until calculator;
• Day countdown calculator;
• Days until calculator;
• Date countdown calculator;
• Wedding countdown calculator;
• Pregnancy countdown calculator;
• Hour countdown calculator;
• Calendar countdown calculator; and
• New years countdown calculator.

To calculate a countdown between dates:

1. Sum the days in each full month between the two dates.
2. Sum the number of days in the initial month (from the initial date to the end of the month).
3. Sum the number of days in the final month (from the beginning of the month to the final date).
4. Sum these results: this is the number of days between the two dates. If you start counting backward, you'll reach 0 on the final date.

If you want to count down from 100 days to New Year's Eve. Start your countdown counter on the 22^nd of September. To find this result:

1. Sum the days in December and November: 31 + 30 = 61.
2. Add the number of days in October, and check if the total is below 100: 61 + 30 = 91.
3. Add 8 days from September: the result is the 22^nd of September. Even though the total is 99, as we end with 0 on New Year's Eve, the number of days will be 100.