Is There a Chrome Extension That Shows a Timer on Every Tab?

If you have searched for a timer that stays visible no matter which tab you are on, you have probably noticed that almost none of them do it. They live in a popup you have to click open, or on a single page you have to keep returning to. That defeats the point. Here is how to get one that is actually on every tab, all the time.

Why most timers do not do this

Most focus timers are built as a popup or a single web page. A popup closes the moment you click away, so the timer is out of sight for almost your entire session. A web-page timer only exists on that one tab. The instant you switch to the document you are actually working on, the timer is gone.

How an every-tab timer works

A browser extension can inject a small piece of itself into every page you open. That is what makes an always-present timer possible. Instead of opening a timer, the extension draws a thin bar at the top of whatever page you are looking at, and keeps it in sync across all your tabs. Switch tabs, open a new one, follow a link, the bar is already there and showing the same session.

Setting one up in Chrome

1. Install Layn from the Chrome Web Store. The bar appears on your tabs right away, no setup needed.
2. Start a focus session from the popup. The bar begins draining across the top of every page.
3. Optional, with Pro: add the sites you are allowed on, and Layn locks out the rest until the session ends.

A couple of honest caveats

An extension can only draw on normal web pages. On Chrome's own internal pages, like the settings screen or the extensions page, the bar will not show, because no extension is allowed to run there. And this is a Chrome and Edge tool, so it lives in the browser, not across your whole operating system.

Bottom line

Yes, a timer on every tab is possible, and an extension is the only clean way to do it. If you want the time present in your peripheral vision the whole session rather than hidden behind a click, that is exactly the shape to look for.