--- title: "Birthday Countdown – Live and Full Screen | birthday.video" description: "A live birthday countdown with their name: days, hours, minutes and seconds ticking full screen, then confetti and Happy Birthday at zero. Free, in a browser." url: https://birthday.video/birthday-countdown --- Free · made on your device # Birthday countdown, live and full screen Type whose birthday it is and when, pick a look, and watch the days, hours, minutes and seconds tick down. At zero: confetti, their name and a Happy Birthday tune. Free · no sign-up · no watermark Days to go Ella 3 Nearly time Counting down with you A birthday countdown shows how long is left until someone’s birthday, ticking down in days, hours, minutes and seconds. Press **Start a birthday countdown**, type the name in **Whose birthday?**, set the **Birthday date** and **Time**, choose a look under **Pick a look** and press **Start the countdown**: it runs live in your browser, full screen if you like, and celebrates with confetti and a Happy Birthday tune when it reaches zero. It is made for the build-up: on a TV during the party so everyone counts the last minute together, on a phone propped up by the cake at midnight, or on your own screen for the week before. If you want something to send rather than watch, **Make a countdown video** turns it into a short “3… 2… 1… Happy birthday” clip, and the [birthday Instagram Story](https://birthday.video/birthday-instagram-story) page covers posting one. The name, the date and the look stay in this browser, so the countdown is still there after a reload. Nothing is sent anywhere, there is no account and nothing to install. ## How to start a birthday countdown 1. ### Open the countdown Press **Start a birthday countdown** above. The countdown opens over the page; nothing else loads until you do. 2. ### Say whose birthday and when Type the name in **Whose birthday?**, set the **Birthday date** and the **Time** (midnight, or the moment the party starts). 3. ### Pick a look Under **Pick a look**, choose the colours, letters and effects you like; they come from the birthday templates. 4. ### Start it and turn the sound on Press **Start the countdown**, then **Tap for sound** so the tune can play at zero. Use the full-screen button for a TV or a laptop on the table. 5. ### Send a short countdown clip For a message rather than a screen, press **Make a countdown video** for an MP4 with the tune, or **Countdown GIF** for a silent loop. ## Where a countdown works best ### At the party Put it on the television or a laptop at the end of the table and set the **Time** to when the cake comes out. The last ten seconds turn into a room-wide countdown, and the confetti and tune at zero do the rest. The screen stays on while the countdown runs, on browsers that allow it, so it won’t go to sleep halfway. ### At midnight For a partner, a best friend or a teenager who wants to be first, set the time to 00:00 and leave a phone propped up by the bed or the drinks. Turning the sound on before you put it down matters: browsers only let a page play sound after a tap, which is why **Tap for sound** is there. ### In the days before Children love checking how many sleeps are left. Open it on the family tablet each morning; because the name, date and look are kept in this browser, it carries on where it was. Use **Change** to fix a typo or move the time. ## Countdown ideas for Stories and the group chat A countdown builds anticipation before a big birthday, and a few small posts work better than one long one: * **A week out:** a screenshot of the live countdown with the days showing, posted to your Story. * **The night before:** a **Countdown GIF** in the group chat, so everyone is ready at midnight. * **At midnight:** **Make a countdown video** and post the “3… 2… 1… Happy birthday” clip the second it turns. * **On the day:** follow it with a proper card from the [happy birthday video](https://birthday.video/happy-birthday-video) templates, with photos and their name. Instagram also has its own countdown sticker for Stories, which reminds your followers when it ends; this countdown is the thing you watch full screen and the clip you share, so the two work well together. ## What the countdown keeps and what it doesn’t The countdown runs in this browser tab. The name, date and look are saved in this browser’s storage so a reload doesn’t lose them, and they never leave the device. It doesn’t send reminders or notifications, it stops when you close the tab, and it doesn’t sync between your phone and your TV: open it on the screen you want to watch. The details are on the [privacy page](https://birthday.video/privacy). ## Birthday countdown questions ### How many days until my birthday? Type your own name and your next birthday into the countdown and press **Start the countdown**: it shows the days, hours, minutes and seconds left, live. Set the **Time** to 00:00 for the moment the day begins. ### Can I show the countdown full screen on a TV? Yes. Open the page on the computer or smart-TV browser connected to the screen, start the countdown and use the full-screen button. The screen stays awake while it runs, on browsers that support it. ### Why do I have to tap for sound? Browsers don’t let a page play sound until you have tapped or clicked on it. Press **Tap for sound** once after starting, and the Happy Birthday tune plays at zero. ### Can I send the countdown to someone? **Make a countdown video** makes a short MP4 of “3… 2… 1… Happy birthday” with the tune, and **Countdown GIF** makes a silent loop. Send either from your phone like any video or GIF. ### Will it keep counting if I close the page? No. It runs while the tab is open. The name, date and look are remembered in this browser, so when you open it again it picks up the right time left. ### Is anything uploaded? No. The countdown and the clips are made in your browser, and the name and date stay in this browser’s storage. There is no account, no watermark and nothing to install. ## More birthday video ideas * [ Birthday video maker Start from an animated template, add their name, photos and a song. ](https://birthday.video/) * [ Birthday invitation video maker An animated party invite with the date, time and place, for group chats. ](https://birthday.video/birthday-invitation-video) * [ Happy birthday video to send now A finished design with their name typed in, as an MP4 with a tune or a GIF. ](https://birthday.video/happy-birthday-video) * [ Birthday Instagram Story templates A 9:16 animated birthday Story or Reel, with words kept clear of the buttons. ](https://birthday.video/birthday-instagram-story) * [ Happy birthday WhatsApp status video A vertical card under 90 seconds for status, and how to send it in HD. ](https://birthday.video/happy-birthday-whatsapp-status) * [ Free Happy Birthday song download Instrumental arrangements of the tune, free to download or put under a video. ](https://birthday.video/happy-birthday-song) * [ Birthday video ideas Twenty-four ideas, quick and ambitious, each with where to start. ](https://birthday.video/birthday-video-ideas) * [ Birthday video templates Every template in the editor, by occasion, with the formats it suits. ](https://birthday.video/birthday-video-templates)