Fact · Speech recognition
12hours (maximum)
Google says a notebook on the free version of Colab can run for at most 12 hours, depending on availability and usage.
Checked against its source on October 17, 2026
In the source's own words
“In the version of Colab that is free of charge notebooks can run for at most 12 hours, depending on availability and your usage patterns.”
Colaboratory Frequently Asked Questions, Google Research, n.d., How long can notebooks run in Colab?.
Open the original- What it measures
- Google's answer to how long a notebook can run.
- What it does not show
- A maximum, not a guarantee. The FAQ also says runtimes time out if you are idle.