Best Ways to Use a Fullscreen Clock: Classrooms, Streaming, Workshops and Nightstands

Most of us check the time on our phones dozens of times a day, and every check is a small invitation to open something else. A big clock on a screen you aren't using fixes that. You probably already have the hardware: an old tablet in a drawer, a spare monitor, the laptop you present from.

These are the places a fullscreen clock is worth setting up.

What is a fullscreen clock?

It's exactly what it sounds like. The time, as large as your screen allows, with nothing else around it. The online kind runs in a browser tab, so there's no app to download. Open the page, hit fullscreen and you're done.

Fullscreen clocks in the classroom

Teachers hear "how long do we have left?" more than almost any other question. Put a clock up on the projector during a test and nobody needs to ask. Students can pace themselves without interrupting.

It helps younger kids too. Seeing the time on the board all day is easy practice for learning to read it.

Showing a clock on stream

If you stream, viewers in other time zones will ask what time it is where you are. A clock in the corner answers that before anyone types it. OBS and most other streaming apps can load a web page as a browser source, so you can drop a browser clock straight into your scene.

Some streamers keep it off camera on a second monitor instead, just to stay on schedule.

Workshops, meetings and talks

An hour goes fast when you're the one at the front of the room. With a laptop on the table and the clock facing you, you'll know you're ten minutes over without reaching for your phone mid-sentence. An audience notices a speaker checking their phone. They don't notice a glance at the table.

At longer events, a clock on a screen near the door also tells people when the break ends.

A bedside clock from an old phone

That old phone in the drawer makes a decent bedside clock. Plug it in, open a fullscreen clock, turn the brightness all the way down and switch on Do Not Disturb. You can check the time at 3 a.m. without picking up your main phone, which is usually where the trouble starts.

Other places it's handy

People also use one on a spare monitor in a home office, on a tablet propped up in the kitchen, on the TV in a home gym, and at reception desks. Basically anywhere you'd otherwise keep reaching for your phone.

Setting one up

On a laptop, open the clock and press F11 on Windows or Control + Command + F on a Mac. On a phone or tablet, just turn it sideways. If it's going to run for hours, plug it in.

The thing that catches most people out is the screen going to sleep after a few minutes. You can change your screen timeout in settings, or use a clock that keeps the screen awake for you.

Common questions

Do I need to pay for a fullscreen clock? No. Browser clocks, including the one on WakeMode, are free.

Will it work on a TV? Yes, either through the TV's own browser or by connecting a laptop with an HDMI cable.

Give it a try

WakeMode has a free Fullscreen Clock that runs in your browser, needs no account and keeps your screen on while it's open. Try it on whatever screen you have lying around.