Move a free generator timer into your account
By Danish Mohammed, founder. , updated 4 min read
A timer made with the free countdown timer generator has no owner, so nothing can edit it. Its claim code changes that. Paste the code into an account and you get an editable copy of the timer in your own templates. The image you already put in an email keeps its design and its deadline, and it gets more opens: without an account, a timer from the generator works for 500 opens. Sign in and claim it, and the same timer works for 1,000 opens.
What the generator gave you
After “Get the code”, the generator shows three things:
| Item | What it is for |
|---|---|
| HTML snippet | Pasted into an email, it shows the timer |
| Image URL | The same timer, for a field that takes an address rather than HTML |
| Claim code | Turns the timer into a template in an account, once |
The claim code is valid for 30 days from the moment the timer was made. The page prints the exact expiry beside it, in the time zone you picked for the deadline. The same browser also remembers the code of the last timer it made, so reopening the generator page shows it again until it expires. A private window may refuse to store it.
Claim it
- Copy the claim code from the generator page.
- Sign in at app.emailtimer.app, or create a free account.
- Open Templates and choose “Claim a generator timer”.
- Paste the code into the “Claim code” field and choose Claim, or press Enter.
- The editor opens on the copy.
The copy lands in the workspace this browser has open in the dashboard. If you belong to more than one, use Switch workspace in the account menu before you claim.
What you get, and what does not change
The copy is a draft template. It has the style, size, colours, labels, headline and deadline you chose in the generator, and it is not published. Nothing serves from it until you press Publish.
The timer you already sent keeps its design and its deadline. Its address points at the generator’s own copy, not at yours, so editing the claimed template does not change a single email already sent. The generator’s copy keeps answering until it is deleted, 30 days after its deadline.
What claiming does to the opens
Claiming raises the allowance of the timer you already sent, at the same address, from 500 opens to 1,000. You do not change anything in the email.
- Before it runs out. The timer carries on counting down, now with 1,000 opens in total instead of 500.
- After it has run out. Past its allowance, the image shows a note that the free timer’s opens are used up. Opens past the allowance are not counted, so claiming a timer in that state brings the countdown back, within about a minute, until it reaches 1,000.
- At 1,000. The note appears again. For more, publish the copy in your templates and use its snippet in your next send.
The copy in your templates is an ordinary draft template. Once you publish it, its opens count toward your workspace’s plan like any other template, starting at 5,000 opens a month on Free. How each kind of open is counted is on how we count usage.
Publishing your copy gives it a new address and a new snippet. Use that snippet in future sends. Once a template is yours, the deadline is no longer capped at 90 days, and the editor offers all six ways a timer can count, which timer types compares.
When claiming does not work
The refusals are written for people, and the dashboard shows them as the API wrote them.
| What you see | What it means | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| “That link has expired. Timers made with the free generator can be claimed for 30 days.” | The 30 days have passed | Build the timer again in the editor |
| “That timer has already been added to a workspace, or it is no longer available.” | The code was used, or the timer was removed | Look in the workspace it was claimed into, or build it again |
| “That link could not be read.” | The code was cut short or changed while copying | Copy it again from the generator page |
| “Paste the claim code first.” | The field was empty | Paste the code, then claim |
A code works once. The service does not say which of “already claimed” or “removed” applies, because either answer would reveal something about a workspace that is not yours.
Questions and answers
Do I need a paid plan to claim a timer?
No. Claiming works in a free account. The generator offers all eight timer styles, and pricing lists which styles each plan includes, so check it before you publish the copy on Free.
Will claiming change the timer in emails I already sent?
Only its allowance. Those emails fetch the generator’s copy, which keeps its design and deadline and carries on until 30 days after its deadline. Claiming raises that copy from 500 opens to 1,000. Your claimed copy has its own address once you publish it.
How many opens does a claimed timer get?
1,000 in total, counted from when the timer was made, so opens it had before the claim count toward the 1,000. The copy in your templates is separate: once published, it counts toward your plan.
Can two people claim the same timer?
No. A claim code works once, and the second attempt is told the timer has already been added to a workspace.
I lost the claim code. Can I get it back?
Only from the browser that made the timer, and only if it was the last timer made there. Otherwise, rebuild the design in the editor, where the same styles and sizes are available.
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The free plan covers 5,000 opens a month with no card. Starter is $19 a month for 250,000.