A manual colony counter is a laboratory instrument used to count colonies of microorganisms grown on agar plates. Typically, it consists of a magnifying glass or a digital camera connected to a display screen. The user visually identifies and counts individual colonies by hand, often aided by a grid or markings on the display to ensure accuracy. However, it remains a widely used method in many laboratories, especially for applications where high-throughput automated colony counting is not feasible or necessary.