Christmas Countdown — How Many Days Until Christmas?
A live countdown to Christmas, ticking down the days, hours, minutes and seconds. Choose whether you celebrate on Christmas Eve (24 December, as in Norway and much of Europe) or Christmas Day (25 December), and see the dates of this year's four Sundays of Advent with candles that light up as each one passes. You can also add your own countdowns, such as a birthday, a trip or the office gift exchange, and share any of them as a link. Everything is saved on your device; nothing is sent to a server.
How it works
- The Christmas countdown starts automatically and updates every second.
- Switch between 24 December (Christmas Eve) and 25 December (Christmas Day) — your choice is remembered.
- Check the Sundays of Advent card to see which candle is lit and when the next one is.
- Add your own countdown with a name and a date, then share it as a link.
How the days are counted
The ticking clock counts to midnight, in your own time zone, at the start of the day you pick. The day count is based on local calendar days, not on dividing milliseconds by 86,400,000. That distinction matters twice a year: when clocks change, one day is 23 or 25 hours long, and a naive calculation would show something like 23.96 days. Counting calendar days avoids that error, so the number of days is always a whole number that matches your wall calendar.
Once the day arrives the page shows it as today, and after it passes the countdown rolls over to next year. The tool relies on your device's clock and time zone, so if your device is set wrong, the countdown will be wrong too.
Christmas Eve or Christmas Day
In Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Germany, Poland and a number of other countries the main celebration is on 24 December, while in the UK, the US and elsewhere it is on 25 December. The tool picks a default from your browser's language (Eve for Norwegian, Swedish, Danish, Finnish, Icelandic, German, Polish, Czech, Slovak, Hungarian, Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian settings, Day for the rest) and remembers whatever you choose. The tool covers 24 and 25 December only. If you celebrate on another date, such as 7 January, add it as a custom countdown.
The Sundays of Advent
In Western Christianity, Advent has four Sundays. The fourth Advent Sunday is the last Sunday on or before 24 December, and the first three fall 21, 14 and 7 days before it. That means Advent always starts between 27 November and 3 December. In 2026, 24 December is a Thursday, so the fourth Sunday is 20 December and the four Sundays are 29 November, and 6, 13 and 20 December. The candles on the page light up as each Sunday passes.
Your own countdowns and share links
You can add any event with a name of up to 80 characters and a date, such as a birthday, wedding, trip or deadline. Dates are checked, so something like 31 February is rejected. A shared countdown puts the name and date in the part of the link after the # sign, so the event title never reaches the website's server, and whoever opens the link sees the same countdown in their own time zone.
Frequently asked questions
How many days are left until Christmas?
The countdown at the top of this page shows it live, to the second, in your own time zone. It counts to midnight at the start of Christmas Eve or Christmas Day, depending on which you choose.
Why can I count down to 24 December instead of 25 December?
In Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Poland and many other countries, the main celebration and gift-giving happen on Christmas Eve, 24 December. In the UK, the US and elsewhere it is Christmas Day, 25 December. Pick whichever you celebrate.
When are the Sundays of Advent?
Advent has four Sundays. The fourth is the last Sunday on or before 24 December, and the other three fall one, two and three weeks earlier, so Advent always begins between 27 November and 3 December. The Advent card on this page shows this year's exact dates.
Can I count down to something other than Christmas?
Yes. Add any event with a name and a date — a birthday, holiday, wedding or deadline. It's saved on this device, and the Share button gives you a link that opens the same countdown for anyone you send it to.
Is anything I add sent to a server?
No. Your countdowns are stored in your browser. When you share one, the name and date travel inside the link itself, after the # sign, which browsers never send to the website's server.