One App for Waking Up, Timing Things, and Winding Down
The Clock app on your Android phone does far more than show the time. On a Pixel and most other Android phones, it is Google Clock, a single app with five tabs along the bottom: Alarm, Clock, Timer, Stopwatch, and Bedtime. One tap sets a morning alarm, another starts a kitchen timer, and a third helps you keep a regular sleep schedule.
This guide walks through each tab in turn, with the settings that actually matter. The steps follow Google Clock, which comes preinstalled on Pixel phones and on many phones running stock or near-stock Android, and which you can install free from the Play Store. Samsung phones are the main exception: they ship with Samsung Clock instead, which looks similar but uses different menus. Where a step differs on Samsung, this guide says so.
Before You Start
Five quick checks will save you from most surprises later. Do them once, and the rest of the guide will work as written.
Step 1: Find out which Clock app you have. Long-press the Clock icon, tap App info, and read the app name at the top.
Step 2: Update the app from the Play Store. Search for Google Clock and tap Update if the button is there.
Step 3: Check the time and time zone on your phone. Open Settings, tap System, then Date and time, and turn on automatic time and time zone.
Step 4: Turn the alarm volume up before you need it. Press a volume button, open the full volume panel, and set the Alarm slider to at least three quarters.
Step 5: Decide what you want the app to do for you. A single wake-up alarm needs almost no setup, while a work-week alarm and a bedtime routine need a few extra choices.
How to Set and Manage Alarms
The Alarm tab is where the Clock app opens on most phones, and it is the tab you will use most. Each alarm has its own time, repeat days, sound, vibration setting, and label, so a 6:30 weekday alarm and a 9:00 Saturday alarm can live side by side. Give every alarm a label when you create it, such as Work or Gym, so you can tell at a glance which alarm is ringing and which one to edit later.
Labels also make a busy list easier to manage: without them, every alarm is just a time, and finding the right one means opening each in turn.
Step 1: Open the Clock app and tap Alarm at the bottom. You will see your existing alarms and a large plus button.
Step 2: Tap the plus button to create a new alarm. A time picker appears, and you can type the time directly.
Step 3: Set the hour and minutes, then choose AM or PM. Check the AM or PM marker twice if you use the 12-hour clock.
Step 4: Tap OK to save the alarm. The new alarm appears in the list, switched on.
Step 5: Tap the alarm to open its details and set the repeat days. Tap the letters for the days you want, such as M, T, W, T, F.
Step 6: Tap Label and type a short name for the alarm. Work, School run, and Medicine are all clearer than a bare time.
Step 7: Tap the alarm sound to choose what plays when it rings. Pick a built-in sound, a song, a Spotify track, or a YouTube Music track.
Step 8: Turn vibration on or off for that alarm. The vibration switch sits next to the sound setting.
Step 9: Check the snooze setting for this alarm. In Google Clock, snoozing is allowed by default and delays the alarm by 10 minutes.
Step 10: Leave at least five minutes between two alarms. Google’s own help notes that alarms set too close together may cancel the first one.
When an alarm rings, tap Snooze to delay it, or Stop to turn it off until the next day it is scheduled. If you do nothing, it keeps ringing until the silence-after time in Settings, then stops on its own. To change an alarm, tap it and edit the time, days, sound, or label. To delete one, tap the menu on its card and choose Delete. Deleting is permanent, so for a short break, switch its toggle off instead.
How to Use the Timer
The Timer tab is a countdown. You set a length of time, start it, and the phone alerts you when it reaches zero. It is the tool for cooking, workouts, study sessions, and laundry. A timer is not an alarm: an alarm rings at a time of day, such as 7:00 in the morning, while a timer counts down a length of time, such as 20 minutes, and runs once.
Google Clock now shows quick preset buttons for 1, 5, 10, and 15 minutes at the top of the Timer tab, in version 9.1 and later. Tapping one starts that countdown straight away, with no typing. If your phone shows an older layout without presets, update the app from the Play Store.
Step 1: Open the Clock app and tap Timer at the bottom. You will see a number pad, or hours, minutes, and seconds fields.
Step 2: Enter the length of the countdown. Type the hours, minutes, and seconds, then double-check the result.
Step 3: Tap the label area and give the timer a name. Pasta, Laundry, and Tea are enough.
Step 4: Tap Start to begin the countdown. The countdown continues in the background if you leave the app.
Step 5: Add a minute while a timer is running by tapping +1:00. You can tap it more than once.
Step 6: Pause a timer by tapping Pause, and restart it by tapping Start again. Pausing holds the countdown where it is.
Step 7: To run a second timer at the same time, tap the plus button. Set a new length and label, then tap Start.
Step 8: When a timer finishes, tap Stop to silence it, or tap +1:00 for one more minute. If you miss the alert, it keeps sounding until you stop it.
Google Clock supports several timers at once, shown side by side in a grid in the newer layout. Each keeps its own label and countdown, so the laundry timer and the oven timer do not get mixed up. The timer sound is separate from the alarm sound, so choose one that stands out.
How to Use the Stopwatch
The Stopwatch tab counts up from zero. It measures how long something takes, rather than counting down to a moment. Use it for runs, workouts, or any task where you want to know the elapsed time afterwards. It keeps running when you leave the app or lock the screen, so you can start it at the beginning of a run and check it at the end.
Step 1: Open the Clock app and tap Stopwatch at the bottom. The screen shows 00:00, with Start and Lap buttons.
Step 2: Tap Start to begin timing. The display counts in seconds and hundredths of a second.
Step 3: Tap Lap to record a split time without stopping the stopwatch. Each lap shows the lap time and the total time so far.
Step 4: Tap Pause when you finish, or when you need a break. Tap Start again to resume from the same point.
Step 5: Tap Reset to clear the stopwatch back to zero. Reset wipes the lap list, so share or write down your times first.
In Google Clock, tap the share icon to send the lap times as text to a messaging app, an email, or a notes app. Write down what you were timing, too: a list of lap times means little a week later if you cannot remember what it was for.
How to Use Bedtime Mode
Bedtime is the fifth tab in Google Clock, and it does two jobs at once. It sets a wake-up alarm, like the Alarm tab, and it sets a bedtime routine, which reminds you to go to bed and quiets the phone while you sleep. If you only want a wake-up alarm, use the Alarm tab. Use Bedtime when you want the phone to help you keep regular hours.
Bedtime works with Digital Wellbeing, which can show your recent bedtime activity, such as which apps you used during your scheduled sleep hours. On Pixel phones, it can also record cough and snore data overnight, using the microphone during your set bedtime hours only. That feature is off by default, needs microphone permission, and is not a medical measurement.
Step 1: Open the Clock app and tap Bedtime at the bottom. The first time you open it, tap Get Started.
Step 2: Set your bedtime. On the Schedule card, tap the time under Bedtime and choose your bedtime and days.
Step 3: Set your wake-up time. Tap the time under Wake up and choose your wake-up time and days.
Step 4: Turn on a bedtime reminder. Choose Reminder notification and pick how far ahead of bedtime you want it.
Step 5: Turn on Bedtime mode. This silences the phone at bedtime and turns the screen greyscale.
Step 6: Choose a wake-up sound and vibration setting. Pick a sound, just as you would for a normal alarm.
Step 7: Pick sleep sounds if you want them. The Bedtime tab offers sleep sounds from Calm, Spotify, or YouTube Music.
Step 8: Check your recent bedtime activity the next morning. Open the Bedtime tab and look for the activity card.
Bedtime mode can also turn on Do Not Disturb while you sleep, but your wake-up alarm still rings, because alarms are allowed through by default. On Pixel phones you can also turn on a sunrise alarm, which brightens the screen gradually before the alarm sounds. To change the schedule, tap the time under Bedtime or Wake up. Your wake-up alarm also appears in the Alarm tab, where you can edit or delete it like any other alarm.
Samsung Clock has its own Bedtime feature, but it does not link to Digital Wellbeing in the same way. Samsung phones also have a separate Bedtime mode in Settings, under Modes and Routines.
How to Use the World Clock
The Clock tab is the world clock. It shows the current time in the cities you choose, side by side, so you can see at a glance whether it is a good time to call someone abroad. Your home time stays at the top, and each added city shows its local time and how far ahead or behind it is.
Step 1: Open the Clock app and tap Clock at the bottom. This is the second tab, next to Alarm.
Step 2: Tap the plus button or the globe icon to add a city. A search box appears.
Step 3: Type the name of the city you want. Choose the right one when several cities share a name.
Step 4: Tap the city to add it to your list. It appears with its current time and its difference from home.
Step 5: Reorder or remove cities as needed. Long-press a city to drag it, or tap the delete option to remove it.
World clock times update automatically for daylight saving changes. When you travel, your alarms follow the new local time, and the world clock still shows the time back home. An alarm set for 7:00 will ring at 7:00 local time where you are, not 7:00 back home.
How to Customise the Clock App
Most of the Clock app’s behaviour is set in one place: the Settings screen inside the app. Open the Clock app, tap the three-dot menu in the top corner, and tap Settings. The options below are the ones worth changing.
Step 1: Set the alarm volume. Move the Alarm slider to a level you will hear.
Step 2: Turn on gradually increase volume if you dislike being startled awake. Choose a build-up from 5 seconds to a full minute.
Step 3: Set how long an alarm rings before it silences itself. In Settings, tap Silence after and choose a time, up to 25 minutes.
Step 4: Change the snooze length. In Settings, tap Snooze length and pick a new delay. The default is 10 minutes.
Step 5: Choose what the volume buttons do when an alarm rings. Pick Control volume, Snooze, Dismiss, or Do nothing.
Step 6: Set the timer sound and vibration. In Settings, under Timers, tap Timer sound and choose a distinct sound.
Step 7: Add a clock widget to your home screen. Touch and hold an empty part of the home screen, tap Widgets, scroll to Clock, and drag a widget onto the screen.
The widget shows the time, and tapping it opens the Clock app. On newer versions, a timer widget is also available, showing a running countdown on the home screen. To resize a widget, touch and hold it and drag the white handles. To remove it, drag it to Remove.
Troubleshooting: When an Alarm Does Not Ring
A missed alarm is stressful, and the cause is usually one of a small set of settings. Work through them in order, and test with an alarm set for two minutes ahead before you trust the phone again.
The alarm volume is too low, or the sound is set to silent. Press a volume button, open the full volume panel, and check the Alarm slider on its own, since media volume does not affect alarms. Then open the alarm, tap its sound, and make sure it is not set to Silent. Google’s own help warns that if the ringtone is set to silent and vibration is off, the alarm will not go off at all.
Do Not Disturb is blocking the alarm. Alarms are allowed through Do Not Disturb by default, so a normal DND schedule should not silence them. Open Settings, tap Sound and vibration, then Do Not Disturb, and check that Alarms is allowed. A mode set to Total silence can block alarms, so switch a night-time rule to Alarms only if you are unsure.
Battery optimisation put the Clock app to sleep. Open Settings, tap Apps, tap Clock, tap Battery, and set it to Unrestricted, or Don’t optimise on older versions. On Samsung phones, also check Device care, then Battery, then Background usage limits, and make sure Clock is not on the sleeping or deep sleeping apps list. On Xiaomi, Oppo, and Vivo phones, check the Autostart setting as well.
The phone was off, or the battery ran out overnight. An alarm cannot ring if the phone is powered off, and Android cancels alarms when the device shuts down. Charge the phone overnight, or at least make sure it has enough charge to last until morning.
The time zone is wrong. If you travelled recently, or the phone’s automatic time zone setting is off, the alarm may be ringing at the right time in the wrong zone. Open Settings, tap System, then Date and time, and turn Set time zone automatically back on. Then open the alarm and check that its time still matches the hour you want.
The alarm sound file is missing. If you set an alarm sound from a song or a file that has since been deleted or moved, the alarm may have no sound to play. Open the alarm, tap its sound, and choose a built-in sound. Test the alarm once with the new sound before you rely on it.
The app is out of date or its data is damaged. Update Google Clock from the Play Store first. If alarms still fail, open Settings, tap Apps, tap Clock, tap Storage, and tap Clear cache. Do not tap Clear storage unless you are willing to lose all your alarms and settings.
Frequently Asked Questions
Will my alarm still ring if my phone is on silent? Yes. Silent mode turns off the ringtone and notification sounds, but alarms use their own volume slider and ring as normal. Do Not Disturb is different, so check that Alarms is allowed in its settings.
Will my alarm ring if my phone is off? No. An alarm needs the phone to be on. If the phone powers off overnight because the battery ran out, the alarm will not ring, so charge the phone overnight when you have an early start.
Can I set more than one timer at the same time? Yes. In Google Clock, start one timer, tap the plus button, and set another. Each timer runs on its own, with its own label and countdown, and the newer layout shows them side by side in a grid.
How do I change the snooze time from 10 minutes? Open the Clock app, tap the three-dot menu, tap Settings, then tap Snooze length and choose a new time. The change applies to every alarm.
Does Bedtime mode turn off my alarms? No. Bedtime mode silences notifications and turns the screen greyscale while you sleep, but your wake-up alarm still rings. If an alarm is missed after a Bedtime night, check the Do Not Disturb exceptions first.
Final Thoughts
The Clock app is easy to overlook because it is already on the phone, doing a quiet job in the background. But it covers the four time jobs most people need every day: waking up on time, counting down a short task, measuring how long something takes, and keeping a steadier sleep routine.
Start with the alarm that matters most. Give it a label, a sound you will hear, and a repeat pattern that matches your week. Check the alarm volume slider on its own, and check that Do Not Disturb allows alarms through. Then test it once, set for a few minutes ahead, so you know it rings before you depend on it.
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