How to run a focus and break session in Pomodoro Timer

Select Start focus to use the default 25-minute focus interval, or enter whole-minute focus and break durations and choose Apply durations first. Pause and resume as needed. At completion, choose Start break yourself; intervals never advance automatically. Only finished focus intervals count, and refreshing clears the session.

Open Pomodoro Timer

Set the minutes before starting

Pomodoro Timer opens with a 25-minute focus interval, a 5-minute break and zero completed focus intervals. For a first session, choose one piece of work, such as drafting the opening of a report, then select Start focus. The app supplies the countdown; keep the task itself in your own notes.

For a different schedule, enter both values under The interval recipe and select Apply durations before starting. For example, enter 15 for Focus and 3 for Break. Each value must be a whole number from 1 to 180. Typing a value alone does not apply it. Check that the ready countdown shows your chosen focus duration before selecting Start focus.

Pause an interruption, then resume

While the interval runs, the main button becomes Pause. Select it when an interruption should stop consuming the remaining time. The button then becomes Resume, which continues from the preserved remainder rather than starting a full interval again. This works for both focus and break intervals.

The duration fields are disabled once an interval has started, including while paused. Resume is the appropriate choice if you want to finish the time already in progress. To change the duration instead, use Reset interval first, edit the fields and select Apply durations; that replaces the remaining time with a full interval of the current phase.

Start the break when you are ready

At zero, the current interval finishes and waits. After focus, the main button reads Start break. Select it to begin the configured break immediately. When the break finishes, select Start focus to begin another focus interval. There is no automatic chain of work and rest periods.

For the 15-minute focus and 3-minute break example, finishing the focus does not silently begin those three minutes while you wrap up a sentence. The break countdown begins only when you choose Start break. Likewise, a finished break waits for your decision before the next focus starts.

Use Reset interval without losing completed focuses

Reset interval stops the timer and restores the full duration of the current phase. It does not switch phases: resetting during a break prepares that break again. If you want the normal next phase after completion, use Start break or Start focus instead of Reset interval.

The session count increases only when a focus interval finishes. Pausing does not add a completion, and resetting an unfinished focus does not award one. Previously completed focuses survive Reset interval. For example, after two completed focuses, resetting a third halfway through leaves the count at two. Break completions do not increase it.

Keep the tab available and understand its limits

The timer calculates remaining time from a deadline and checks again when the tab becomes visible or the window regains focus. If you return after the deadline, it finishes the current interval. It does not fill the time away with invented focus and break completions, because the next interval still requires your action.

There is no sound or system notification. Background or sleeping-device callbacks can be delayed, so keep the tab available for visual feedback rather than relying on an audible alarm. Changing the device clock can affect the countdown. Refreshing or closing ends the session: settings, remaining time and the completed-focus count are held only in tab memory. Reloading starts over with the 25-minute and 5-minute defaults.

AI-assisted ForgeHub editorial. App capabilities were checked against its implementation; this guide is not an independent review.