Countdowns
Track date-based milestones, choose repeat behavior, and understand month-end and leap-year dates.
A countdown shows the number of days to a target date. Use it for a launch, anniversary, renewal, or deadline that you want to keep visible. It is separate from a Calendar event and does not reserve time or send an event reminder.
Describe the milestone
Give the countdown a name, target date, and optional description. Color and icon help distinguish entries in the list; they do not change the date calculation.
Countdowns use dates rather than appointment times. The display compares the target with today's date in the browser's local calendar. If the exact hour matters, create a timed event and configure its reminder as well.
Choose how the date repeats
Select a repeat mode according to the milestone's calendar pattern.
| Repeat | Next target | Example |
|---|---|---|
| None | The date you entered | A project launch |
| Weekly | The next matching weekday, including today | A weekly review day |
| Monthly | The selected day in the current or next month | A recurring payment date |
| Yearly | The selected month and day in this or next year | An anniversary |
For repeating countdowns, the display advances to the next matching date. A target that falls today shows today rather than immediately skipping to the next interval. A non-repeating countdown can become a past milestone after its target date passes.
Understand short months and leap years
Monthly and yearly countdowns use the last valid day when their target day does not exist in that month. A monthly target on the 31st uses April 30 in April. A yearly February 29 target uses February 28 in a non-leap year.
This rule belongs to countdowns. Do not assume an imported recurring event uses the same month-end behavior; inspect that event's recurrence rule.
Find and sort milestones
Search the countdown list when you remember a name or description. Sort by name, target date, or creation time, in either direction. The browser remembers your selected sort.
Target-date sorting uses each countdown's stored date, not the next date calculated for its repeat pattern. A yearly anniversary created with an older year can appear before a newer one even if its next anniversary is farther away. Read the remaining-days display when comparing repeating milestones.
Keep milestones and appointments in sync
Editing or deleting a countdown changes that countdown only. It does not reschedule a similarly named event or update its participants.
For a launch that also has a scheduled meeting, use the countdown to track the milestone and the event to hold the meeting's time, invitations, and reminders. Update both if the launch date changes.