Christmas 2026 is on Friday, December 25. There are 84 days left. Below is a countdown GIF you can paste into any email, in dark, light or transparent versions. If you sell online, the most useful deadline is usually your last day to order for delivery by Christmas, and you can switch to it in the generator.
Christmas 2026 is on Friday, December 25. There are 84 days left. Below are three countdowns ready to copy, plus the generator already set to that date in case you want different colors, a different style or, most often, a different end date.
For an online store, the deadline that drives December sales comes earlier: the last day to order and still get the package by Christmas Eve. You set that date yourself, because it depends on your carrier and on how long you take to pack an order.
Copying creates your timer: free, no signup and editable from this browser.
All three count down to December 25 at 12:00 a.m. Eastern. If you're counting to your shipping cutoff instead, change the date and time in the generator before you copy the code.
Copy the HTML if your ESP has a code block, or the URL if it only accepts images by link. All three styles are on the free plan.
The generator is already set up for this page. Change what you need and press Create timer.
Animated GIF. Recalculated every time the email is opened.
A fixed-date timer counts down to the same instant for everyone. That's what you need for Christmas and for a shipping cutoff, since the last truck leaves at the same time for every customer.
An evergreen timer counts a set duration (say, 48 hours) from when each person opens the email. Without a paid account the clock restarts on every open, so it doesn't work for a shipping deadline: you'd be telling someone they have 48 hours when your last order for Christmas delivery closes tomorrow. On the Starter plan, evergreen runs per recipient: the first open sets the start and later opens show what's left. That fits automated flows, like a welcome coupon for people who subscribe in December.
USPS has published its recommended send-by dates for expected delivery before December 25 within the contiguous U.S.:
For Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico and U.S. territories, Ground Advantage moves up to December 16. USPS adds that actual delivery dates vary with origin, destination and Post Office acceptance time. If you ship with UPS, FedEx or a regional carrier, use their published dates, then subtract your own handling time.
Treat this as a starting point. Replace "your cutoff" with your store's real last ship date.
| When | Timer | Why | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shipping dates | Tuesday, December 1, right after Cyber Monday | Fixed, to your cutoff | It's the next deadline gift shoppers care about |
| Reminder | Two or three days before the cutoff | The same timer | The image is rendered at open, so it already shows less time |
| Last shipping day | Cutoff day, morning | The same timer | Now the GIF shows only hours |
| After the cutoff | Through Thursday, December 24 | Fixed, to your closing time on the 24th | For whatever doesn't need a carrier: in-store pickup or gift cards, if you offer them |
| New subscribers | On signup | Per-recipient evergreen (Starter) | Each person gets their own window, counted from their first open |
If your December campaign starts with November's sales, the Black Friday countdown works the same way.
Reusing your Black Friday timer. If you edit November's timer to count to Christmas, the change also reaches the Black Friday emails you already sent. Create a new one.
Counting to midnight. A shipping cutoff rarely ends at 12:00 a.m. If your warehouse hands packages to the carrier at 2 p.m., use that time, and write the date and time in the email copy next to the timer.
Time zones. The end is a single instant. A cutoff at 2 p.m. Eastern is 11 a.m. in Los Angeles. If you sell across zones, say which one you mean.
Apple Mail. With Mail Privacy Protection on, Apple downloads images in the background when the email arrives, whether or not it's opened. The GIF may reflect the moment of that download rather than the moment someone reads it, and Klaviyo warns that countdowns may not render correctly in Apple Mail for this reason.
Gmail. Gmail scans images before showing them and doesn't let senders learn where the reader is. Don't count on the reader's IP to guess their time zone; our timer uses the zone you choose, the same for everyone.
Outlook. According to Microsoft, Outlook for Microsoft 365, 2021 and 2024 play animated GIFs unless the user has turned off Windows animations; Outlook 2007, 2010 and 2013 show only the first frame. In our GIF that frame is complete and shows the time left at open.
The ending. Decide what shows at zero. For a shipping cutoff, "Holiday shipping has ended" tells people more than "Merry Christmas!" If you extend the cutoff, edit the timer and emails you've already sent will show the new date.
Any platform that accepts an HTML block or an image by URL will work. We have step-by-step guides for Klaviyo, Mailchimp, HubSpot and Shopify Email, covering where the block lives and how to test before you send.
Always send a test to a Gmail address and an Outlook address before you schedule the campaign.
6 styles already set up for Christmas. Open one, set your date and create the timer. See all 6 Christmas templates
Friday, December 25, 2026. It's a federal holiday, and Christmas Eve falls on Thursday, December 24.
For the contiguous U.S., USPS recommends shipping by Thursday, December 17 for Ground Advantage and First-Class Mail, Friday, December 18 for Priority Mail and Saturday, December 19 for Priority Mail Express. USPS says actual delivery dates may vary. Check UPS, FedEx or your own carrier separately.
For sales emails, usually your shipping cutoff, because that's the deadline that changes what a customer does. A countdown to the 25th works for brand or greeting emails.
The GIF shows the expired message you wrote, such as Merry Christmas! or Holiday shipping has ended, or a 1 pixel transparent image if you'd rather it disappear.
Microsoft says Outlook for Microsoft 365, 2021 and 2024 play animated GIFs by default. If the reader has Windows animations turned off, or uses Outlook 2007, 2010 or 2013, they see only the first frame, which already shows the time left when the email was opened.
No. A free timer is served without any branding up to 25,000 impressions a month. Above that, a small line of text appears under the countdown; paid plans never get it.