This small Windows program was designed for conferences, symposiums, classrooms, and public events where keeping on schedule is essential, yet where people naturally lose track of time. When a lecturer starts a PowerPoint slideshow or switches a PDF into full-screen mode, this timer automatically appears on the screen. It quietly counts the minutes since the presentation began. As the presentation nears its time limit, the timer turns red, reminding the speaker to wrap up.
The program runs in the system tray. You do not need to start or stop anything manually. It automatically detects when a PowerPoint slideshow starts or a PDF presentation opens in full-screen mode in Adobe Reader or Acrobat. When the presentation ends (exiting full screen), the timer hides and resets itself automatically. Use the tray menu to choose when the timer turns red: 1, 5, 10, 15, 20, or 30 minutes, with 10 minutes as the default.
- Works only on Windows (tested on Windows 10).
- Supports only PowerPoint and Adobe Reader or Acrobat.
- After launching the app, a small tray icon appears. Start a PowerPoint slideshow or open a PDF in full screen to see the timer at top right.
Download PresentationTimer.exe (41.3 MB)
For future releases, I plan to add options to exit full screen when time runs out, set custom durations, and choose different timer positions on the screen, such as bottom or left instead of always top right. My development time is limited, and since the app is written in Python, which is not my strongest language or usual tool of choice, I am not sure when these improvements will happen.
If you need more advanced features, such as remote control, take a look at StageTimer.io