How to open the Clock timer from the Mac menu bar
Click the time in the menu bar, then click the Clock widget. Apple’s Clock guide gives this as the quicker way to reach Clock. It saves you from searching for the app each time you want a timer or stopwatch.
Steps
- Click the time at the right end of the menu bar.
- Click the Clock widget that appears.
- Choose Timers or Stopwatch in the Clock window, and set it going.
If you only need the time and not a countdown, the clock in the menu bar already shows it.
Once Clock is open, the two tabs you will use most are the ones at the top of the window. Click Timers for a countdown that alerts you when it ends, or Stopwatch for a count up with laps. The timer steps are on their own page, including how to pause, resume and cancel, and how to name a timer and pick its sound.
What the menu bar cannot do
Apple’s pages describe a way to open Clock from the menu bar. They do not describe a live countdown that stays in the menu bar while a timer runs. The pages checked on 4 November 2026 say nothing either way, so this page does not claim it. If you want to see a running timer, keep the Clock window visible, or use the notification that appears when it ends.
Faster than searching
Opening Clock through Spotlight works, but it takes a few keystrokes each time. If you set timers many times a day, the menu bar route is shorter.
When you want it in the notch
A timer that lives in the notch is one hover away and does not need a window. NotchStar’s Timers tool offers a timer from 5 to 60 minutes, a stopwatch and a Pomodoro mode. It keeps counting while the notch is closed, and you choose a finish sound from Glass, Ping, Hero, Submarine or Funk, or turn the sound off. Timers reset when NotchStar quits.
If you are new to Clock, start with the basic timer steps, and see how to use the stopwatch.
