Free tool

Screen time calculator

Four hours of screen time a day is 1,460 hours a year, a quarter of your waking time. Put in your own daily number from your phone's settings and see what it adds up to over a year, a decade and the rest of your life, and how much a small cut gives back.

Screen-time limit quest art from XP Tracker, Monk version

Your screen time

How the calculator works

All the numbers come from your daily average and two assumptions you can change: how many hours you are awake, and the age you count to.

Hours a year = hours a day × 365
Share of waking time = hours a day ÷ waking hours
Years of waking life = hours a day × years ÷ waking hours

The last line works because one year of waking life is waking hours × 365. With 16 waking hours, 4 hours a day is a quarter of every waking day, so over 10 years it adds up to 2.5 years of waking life. From age 25 to 80 it is almost 14.

The cut slider runs the same math on the minutes you take back. Thirty minutes a day is about 183 hours a year, more than 11 waking days.

No social media quest art from XP Tracker, Monk version — A quiet day off social apps is one of the easiest experiments to run.

Daily screen time at a glance

Per day	Per year	Share of 16 waking hours	Years of waking life per decade
1 hour	365 hours	6%	0.6
2 hours	730 hours	13%	1.3
3 hours	1,095 hours	19%	1.9
4 hours	1,460 hours	25%	2.5
6 hours	2,190 hours	38%	3.8

What to do with your number

Look at the apps, not the total. Your phone's report lists screen time per app. Usually one or two apps take most of the hours you would rather have back.
Make one change, then measure again in a week. Moving one app off the home screen or charging the phone outside the bedroom is a fair first test. The doomscrolling habit page has more small swaps.
Decide what the time is for. A cut sticks better when the minutes go somewhere: a walk, a book, a call. Use the habit time calculator to see what those minutes would add up to.

Limits

The calculator assumes every day looks like your average, which no real week does. It also counts all screen time the same way, whether you spent it on a video call with your grandmother or on an endless feed. Use it to see the size of the number, then judge the hours yourself. For a step-by-step plan, read how to reduce screen time.

Your next step: open your phone's screen time report now and write down the one app you would most like to spend less time in.

Questions people ask

How do I find my real screen time?

On iPhone, open Settings and tap Screen Time. On most Android phones, open Settings and look for Digital Wellbeing and parental controls. Use the daily average over a whole week, since single days swing a lot.

How many hours a year is 3 hours of screen time a day?

1,095 hours, about 46 full days. With 16 waking hours a day, that is close to a fifth of your waking time, or about 68 waking days a year.

What does "years of waking life" mean?

The calculator counts only the hours you are awake. With 16 waking hours a day, a year of waking life is 5,840 hours. Your screen hours are divided by that number. Change the waking hours if you sleep more or less.

Is all screen time bad?

No. Calls with family, reading, learning and work all happen on screens. The calculator shows totals, not a verdict. Many people find it more useful to look at the one or two apps that take time they would rather spend elsewhere.

How do I reduce my screen time?

Start with one change you can keep: the phone charges outside the bedroom, social apps move off the home screen, or a daily limit on one app. Our guide to reducing screen time has a full plan.