An alarm clock for PC that stays in sight
Windows can already set an alarm, but it hides the clock inside an app you rarely open, and you only find out whether an alarm is set by going to look. This alarm clock for PC puts a clock face on the desktop instead, so your next alarm is part of the view.
Choose from four Style options. Twin bell is a teal enamel face under two bells, with a brass hand that points at your alarm time. Bedside LED shows the time in digits with the next alarm underneath. Travel alarm sits in a leather case and marks the alarm with a red hand, and Square desk is a black block with a yellow one. A small lamp on the face lights whenever an alarm is armed.
The app window lists every alarm with its own switch and tells you how long you have until the next one rings, which is a quick sanity check before you shut the lid on a Sunday night.
How to set an alarm on your laptop
Open the app window from the tray icon or by right-clicking the clock and choosing Open Alarm Clock Widget. Then:
- Click Add alarm and set the time. Give it a Label of up to 40 characters, such as Gym or Take the bins out, and it is shown when the alarm rings.
- Pick the days it should repeat, such as weekdays or weekends. Leave every day unselected for a one-off alarm that switches itself off after ringing.
- Under Sound, choose Twin bells, Radio beeps or Morning birds, and press Play the sound to audition it.
- Set Snooze for to 5, 9, 10, 15 or 20 minutes. Nine is the classic default.
- Turn on Start with Windows so the alarm is armed after every restart.
Snooze and stop, like a real desk alarm clock
When an alarm rings decides where it appears. Open the alarm window puts the time in large type with your label, plus two buttons, Snooze and Stop, in a window that stays above everything until you answer. Ring on the widget brings the desktop clock forward with the same two buttons beneath it. Either way a Windows notification carries the label and time.
You can also snooze the way you would on the physical clock by tapping the part you would hit at 6 a.m.: the bells on Twin bell, the snooze bar on Bedside LED, the alarm button on Travel alarm, or the top button on Square desk. Gradual wake begins the sound softly and builds to full over 30 seconds, all within your current Windows volume. Switch it off and the hint reads Full volume from the start.
Will a PC alarm go off when the computer is asleep?
Not on its own. A sleeping or shut-down computer cannot play sound, and this app does not wake it. What it does do is catch up: when the PC wakes, the alarm rings straight away and the ring screen says Missed while the PC was asleep, so a nap that ran long does not pass silently.
For a morning alarm, keep the laptop plugged in and set its sleep timer in Windows power settings to Never while it is on power. Closing the lid usually sends a laptop to sleep, so leave it open or change what the lid does in the same settings.
