document.getElementById('timer').innerHTML = 24 + ":" + 00; startTimer(); function startTimer() { var presentTime = document.getElementById('timer').innerHTML; var timeArray = presentTime.split(/[:]+/); var m = timeArray[0]; var s = checkSecond((timeArray[1] - 1)); if(s==59){m=m-1} //if(m<0){alert('timer completed')} document.getElementById('timer').innerHTML = m + ":" + s; setTimeout(startTimer, 2000); } function checkSecond(sec) { if (sec < 10 && sec >= 0) {sec = "0" + sec}; // add zero in front of numbers < 10 if (sec < 0) {sec = "59"}; return sec; }