Recess

A free, open-source break reminder for Mac and Windows. Recess dims your screen when it's time to rest your eyes, stretch or get up. You can postpone or skip when you're in the middle of something, and it notices when you've already stepped away. Use it for the 20-20-20 rule against eye strain, regular stretch and posture breaks, or a Pomodoro-style work rhythm.

Download for Mac · Download for Windows · Website

macOS 14+ (Apple Silicon and Intel) · Windows 10 (2004) or 11, 64-bit

Features

• As many breaks as you like. It starts with a 10-minute Normal break every hour and a 15-second Micro break every 15 minutes.
• Flexible timing. The next break can be timed from when the last one was due, from when it ended, at a set minute each hour, or from your calendar events. Breaks can be limited to certain hours (including overnight windows) and days of the week.
• Notices when you're away. Time away from the keyboard counts as a break, and so does sleep or a locked screen. Each break chooses whether its clock keeps running, stops or winds back while you're away.
• Priorities. Breaks higher in the list win; a smaller break steps aside when a bigger one is about to start.
• Gentle or strict. A break can start right away, wait for a pause in your typing, or ask first. On the break screen you can postpone (two buttons), skip, end early, or require a click to finish. You can even lock the computer into the break.
• Postpone & skip limits. Allow only N postpones or skips per break, hour or day. The limits apply everywhere: break screen, menu, shortcuts and links.
• Themes. A countdown ring, a breathing guide, clocks, eye-rest and desk-stretch routines, or your own text, website, YouTube video or photo folder.
• Actions before, during and after breaks: notifications, sounds, speech, a screen flash, or your own scripts (AppleScript and shell on the Mac, PowerShell and batch files on Windows).
• Rules. Postpone or skip breaks while a given app is in front or open, during a fullscreen app, a call (Windows), Focus (Mac), the screensaver or a calendar event, or whenever a script you write says so.
• Always at hand. A menu bar item (Mac) or notification-area icon (Windows) with a countdown and every command, global keyboard shortcuts, and recess:// links for automation.
• Activity. A log of breaks taken, postponed and skipped, a statistics chart, and an optional per-app usage timeline.
• Private. No accounts, analytics or update checks; your settings are plain JSON on your computer.

Install on a Mac

1. Download Recess.dmg from the latest release.
2. Open it and drag Recess into Applications.

Requires macOS 14 Sonoma or later, on Apple Silicon or Intel.

First launch

Recess isn't notarized by Apple yet, so the first time you open it macOS says it can't verify the app. You only need to allow it once:

1. Open Recess. When macOS says it can't verify it, click Done.
2. Open System Settings › Privacy & Security, scroll down to Security, and click Open Anyway next to Recess.
3. Confirm with your password or Touch ID, then click Open.

Or, in Terminal: xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine /Applications/Recess.app

Permissions (all optional)

Permission	Used for
Notifications	"Break coming up" warnings. Without it, Recess shows its own banner.
Calendars	Calendar-timed breaks and "during a meeting" rules
Accessibility	Only for the Input monitoring idle detector (the default needs nothing)
Full Disk Access	Only for Focus rules, which read macOS's Do Not Disturb state. Read SECURITY.md before granting it.

Install on Windows

1. Download Recess-Setup.exe from the latest release and run it. It installs for your account only, with no admin rights needed.
2. Recess opens with a short setup assistant, then lives in the notification area by the clock. Windows may tuck new icons under the ^ arrow; to keep it in view, turn Recess on under Settings › Personalization › Taskbar › Other system tray icons.

Requires Windows 10 version 2004 or Windows 11, 64-bit; it also runs on Windows on Arm. Prefer not to install? Recess-windows.zip is a portable copy: unzip it anywhere and run Recess.exe.

First launch

Recess isn't code-signed yet, so the first time you run it Windows may say Windows protected your PC. Click More info, then Run anyway. You only need to do this once. On a new PC with Smart App Control turned on, Windows won't run unsigned apps at all; that will change once releases are signed.

This is the beginning of the README. Read the rest at the original. Read the full README ↗