How it works
Tap the lever and the wheels roll like an odometer: four wheels to start, more past 9,999. Every click is saved with the time it happened, so the page can tell you how fast you are counting. "Now" is the net change over the last few minutes, per minute; "Average" is the net change from your first click to your last. A thin tape shows the last 30 minutes, a bar for each minute. Both rates are this page's own method: nobody publishes one standard for them.
Set "Count by" to 5 or 10 for a big flock or a pallet of boxes. Minus takes one away, and Undo steps back through every click and every reset, so a stray tap or a mistaken reset is never final. Reset starts a new count and keeps the old one, with its times, under Earlier counts. The Log lists the latest clicks and each minute, and Download CSV gives a spreadsheet with a row per click.
Only the big lever counts, so touching the screen to keep it awake does nothing. The counters are saved in this browser on this device only.
Questions people ask
- How high can a hand tally counter count?
- Most have four number wheels and count from 0000 to 9999: Wikipedia says most models contain "four such rings, allowing the user to count up to 9999." This page starts with four wheels and adds a fifth and sixth, up to 999,999.
- How do I count people coming in and going out?
- Use two counters, "In" and "Out", or one counter and the Minus button. Some venues must count both: one county's guidance says "You must count the number of people who enter and the number of people who leave and be able to produce that number upon request." That is one county's guidance, not a national rule.
- How do I count a large flock of birds?
- Count in fives or tens: a Southwest Indiana bird club suggests you "try counting them in increments. Maybe you count 5 or 10 birds to 'get a feel' for what that amount looks like." Set "Count by" to 5 or 10 and each click adds that many.
- How is the rate worked out?
- From the time of each click: "Now" is the net change over the last 1, 5 or 15 minutes (or since your first click, if that was more recent), per minute; "Average" is the net change from the first click to the last, per minute. Both are this page's own method, not a published standard.
- Will my phone stay awake while I count?
- Yes, if "Keep the screen on while counting" is on and your browser supports the Screen Wake Lock API, which "provides a way to prevent devices from dimming or locking the screen." Only the big lever counts, so touching the screen to keep it awake adds nothing.