Starting and stopping a timer
How the live timer works, including cross-device behaviour.
Starting a timer creates a real record the moment you press start — it isn't just a clock ticking in your browser. That means:
- It survives a closed tab. The timer is a server-side record; closing the browser doesn't lose it.
- It's visible across devices. Start a timer on your laptop, check its elapsed time from your phone.
- Elapsed time is always calculated from the start time, not streamed or accumulated — so there's nothing to get out of sync.
One timer at a time
You can only have one timer running at once. Starting a new timer automatically stops whatever was already running (its elapsed time is saved, not discarded).
What you see while it runs
The display ticks once a second while the tab is open and visible, and pauses
while it's in the background (to save battery) — it snaps back to the
correct value the moment you return to the tab. Time reads out as
HH:MM:SS by default, or as decimal hours if your organisation shows
durations that way (Settings → Time tracking).
Stopping a timer
Press stop, and the session is saved as a time entry against the day it started. A session shorter than your organisation's minimum (1 minute by default) isn't saved, and a message tells you so. See Timer limits and rounding.
If your organisation requires notes
When Require a note on every time entry is on (Settings → Time tracking) and the timer has no note yet, pressing stop asks What did you work on? Add a note and choose Stop and save. Keep timing, or closing the box, leaves the timer running.
A timer stopped automatically at the maximum length is saved without a note, and so is one stopped because you started another.
Working offline
If you lose your connection mid-timer, Springtrack keeps tracking locally and syncs the entry once you're back online, using the original start time — you won't lose the session.