A very simple and completely free stopwatch program for Windows.

Just download stopwatch.zip and unzip it somewhere on your computer. Create a shortcut on your desktop for convenient access. You can right-click on the window if you want to toggle the window's stay-on-top behavior, copy the time to the clipboard, or rename the window. If you want the stopwatch to immediately start running, add a command line argument of "start". If you want the window to start in stay-on-top mode, add a command line argument of "top". Pressing Ctrl-C will copy the elapsed time to the clipboard.

Two stopwatch programs in action.

What version of the .NET framework is required?
In theory, anything 2.0 or above should work (that is what I targeted in the Visual Studio project). The StopWatch is pretty simple and doesn't need any advanced .NET features. But Microsoft has done a good job making forward compatibility a pain. I now include a StopWatch.exe.config file along with StopWatch.exe. If you only have .NET 4.0, this should hopefully make it run. If you know of a better way, drop me an email...

Why?
On occasion I do consulting work and need to time how long I'm working for a client. So I figured a little stop watch like Windows program would be handy to have. After several hours searching the Internet, I found only programs which cost money, didn't allow the timer to continue after a pause, or had a user interface as complex as a nuclear reactor.

So after 20 minutes of highly complex and exhausting software development, I had created The World's Simplest Free Stopwatch. Enjoy!

Revision history:

• Added application config file so it runs on machines with only .NET 4.0 installed.
• Added right-click menu that toggles stay-on-top window, copys time to clipboard, and renames window.
• Added "top" command line parameter that causes window to startup as stay-on-top.
• Made command line parameters work if user adds a dash or other symbols.
• Converted to Visual Studio 2010.

• Changed to display only hundredths of a second, the spinning third decimal place was annoying me.
• Added icons so it is easier to find in taskbar.
• Converted to Visual Studio 2005.
• Added "start" command line switch to automatically start when opened.
• Ctrl-C will copy the elapsed time to the clipboard.