Microsoft PowerPoint is a powerful presentation tool. You can use animations, such as countdown timers, to make your presentations more engaging. This tutorial shows how to create a PowerPoint countdown timer to be used in various PowerPoint presentations, such as a quiz.
Tip: What to create PowerPoints more efficiently? Learn these PowerPoint keyboard shortcuts.
Add a PowerPoint Countdown Timer Using PowerPoint Add-Ins
There are many ways to use a countdown timer in PowerPoint presentations. One way is to use PowerPoint add-ins. Both free and paid add-ins appear in search results.
Open Microsoft PowerPoint, and create a new presentation. Select the Home tab from the ribbon. Click on the Add-ins option, then click More Add-ins to open a separate Office Add-ins window.
Type “timer” in the search field to find timer add-ins. Click on the Add button to add a timer to the slide.
After adding a timer, you can modify it through the settings.
PowerPoint Countdown Timer Add-Ins We Recommend
We recommend the following PowerPoint timers for your PowerPoint presentation:
Both of these timer add-ins are free to use and easy to customize. EasyTimer has three different clock types: Bar, Square, and Digital. You can use any of these clocks in your presentation. The Breaktime timer only has a digital clock but comes with several themes, like Dinner, Exercise, Breakfast, Coffee, Tea, etc.
Create Your Own Countdown Timer for PowerPoint
Adding a countdown timer to PowerPoint presentations with the help of add-ins is an easy and hassle-free process. However, it has some limitations, such as not being able to modify the design of the timer. It may suit you better to create your own countdown timer to use in PowerPoint presentations.
Disappearing Countdown Timer
Select an image for your timer, such as the circular shape. To select a shape, click the Insert tab, then click on the Shapes option. If you select a circle, press and hold the Shift key; otherwise, an elliptical shape will form.
Double-click on the shape to write a number inside it. The number indicates how many seconds the timer will last.
To create a disappearing PowerPoint countdown timer, select the shape on the slide, and go to the Animations tab. I selected the Wheel animation.
To define the timing for your timer, select With Previous in the Start drop-down in the Timing Group. This will start the timer automatically when the slideshow reaches that slide. If you select On Click in this drop-down, left-click the mouse to start the timer. Set the Duration to 1 second.
Copy the shape, and paste it on the same slide. Change the color of the new shape. You need to have one shape for each second of your timer. For example, if the duration of your timer is 5 seconds, you need to create four more copies of the shape.
Change the number and color of each shape. For all other copies of the shape, select After Previous in the Start option of the Timing Group.
The next step is to align all the shapes. Overlap all the shapes so that you see only one shape on your slide. To bring a shape behind the previous shape, right-click on the shape, and select Send to Back. Alternatively, also select the Bring to Front option, and adjust accordingly.
For example, for a 5-second timer, the overlapping order of the shapes would be:
5 > 4 > 3 > 2 > 1
The easiest way is to use the Arrange option. Select all the shapes, then go to the Home tab. Click on the Arrange option, and select Align -> Align Center. Click Arrange again, and select Align -> Align Middle.
After creating a disappearing countdown timer, insert it into any slide in your presentation. You can also copy and paste the timer slide.
Tip: These useful PowerPoint templates will help you set up a Digital Planner.
Clock Countdown Timer
To create a digital clock countdown timer, first select a shape. Fill the shape with your choice of color, then add a text box to the shape. Add three text boxes if you’d like to display hours, minutes, and seconds in the timer. To add a text box, select the Text Box option in the Insert tab, then draw a rectangle with your mouse to insert the text box.
Also, create a text box for each second of your timer, including “0.” Select the font of your choice. The digital clock font is not preloaded in Windows, but you can download and install it.
To create a digital clock countdown timer, I added animations only to the text box that displays seconds. It should start with the highest number. For example, in a 5-second timer, the highest number would be 5.
The number 5 will disappear after 1 second, and the number 4 will appear automatically. Select the text box that displays the number 5, select the Animations tab, and click on the Add Animation option. Select the Disappear animation. In the Timing Group, select With Previous in the Start drop-down, and set the Duration to 1 second.
Select the text box that displays 4, then select the animation Appear. In the Start drop-down, select After Previous, and click Add Animation again to add another animation.
Select the Disappear animation this time, then select With Previous in the Start drop-down, and set the delay to 1 second. Repeat this same animation with numbers 3 to 0. For the number 0, do not add the Disappear animation.
Bar Countdown Timer
To create a Bar Countdown Timer, draw a rectangular shape on the slide, then select the Colored Outline theme style for it to create a hollow rectangle. Create another rectangle, and fill it with a color.
To select an Exit animation for the filled rectangle, select an Effect Option.
Select With Previous in the Start drop-down, and set the duration equal to the duration of your timer.
You can select any Effect Options. For my timer, I selected the From Top Effect, as it was the vertical bar.
SmartArt PowerPoint Countdown Timer
SmartArt is a visual representation of information in a PowerPoint presentation that helps make a presentation informative and engaging. To create a SmartArt Countdown Timer, insert a SmartArt to your slide, then add animations to each element of the SmartArt separately.
Delete the unnecessary elements of the SmartArt. Select a SmartArt, and insert it into the slide. Right-click on the SmartArt, and select Group -> Ungroup. Repeat this until all the elements of the SmartArt are ungrouped. You have to ungroup the elements of the SmartArt so that you can add separate animations to all the elements.
Now, select an element and add the appearing or disappearing animation to it. Similarly, define animations to all the elements of the SmartArt.
A countdown timer can be useful in a presentation in PowerPoint. If you are a teacher, you can create quizzes for students, add a countdown timer to quizzes, and even upload the quizzes to your YouTube Channel. Not a fan of PowerPoint? Check out these PowerPoint alternatives.
Image credit: Pexels. All screenshots by Deeksha Gola.
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Deeksha Gola
Deeksha is a tech enthusiast and loves writing articles related to technology. Previously she has worked with Electronics Arts as a Tech Support Assistant and helped many gamers troubleshooting and fixing game errors. Playing Guitar is her hobby.
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