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Activity Timeline

How to record the apps and windows you use, and turn that activity into time entries from My activity in the desktop app or the browser extension — with block names, suggested time logs, Auto-log day, and split and merge.

The Activity Timeline is a feature in our desktop app and browser extension that automatically records which apps and windows you use. In the desktop app, it also names each block of activity and suggests the time logs to create from it, so you can log a whole day in a few clicks.

Where to find it

Desktop: Open the Toggl desktop app and go to My activity in the nav bar. This is where the Activity Timeline lives.

Browser extension: Open calendar view. The first column shows your activity.

Before you start: enable the feature

The Activity Timeline does not record anything until it is switched on.

Desktop: Go to Profile Settings → Desktop Settings → Activity Timeline and turn on Enable activity recording.

Browser extension: Open the extension dropdown, click your profile icon in the top-right, then go to General → Activity Timeline.

Setup checklist (desktop)

If you open My activity in the desktop app while recording is off, you see a sample block and a short checklist instead of an empty page:

  1. Turn on activity recording. Recording runs in the desktop app while it's open.
  2. Allow Accessibility access (macOS only). Toggl needs this to see which app you're working in. Click Open System Settings; if Toggl isn't listed, add it with the + button.

Once both steps are done, your own activity replaces the sample within a couple of minutes.

Settings

All Activity Timeline settings are in the same section as the switch above. The settings vary between apps.

Recording detail (desktop only)

Controls how much information is captured for each activity:

  • Apps and window titles: records both the application name and the specific window or document title (e.g. "Notion: Weekly meetings" or "Chrome: PRD, Calendar"). This gives you the richest level of detail, and it is what AI names and suggestions work from.
  • Apps only: records the application name only (e.g. "Google Chrome", "Notion"). Use this if you'd prefer not to capture window-level content.

Group activities by

  • Dynamic grouping (default): consecutive activity from the same app is grouped into a single block, making the timeline easier to scan.
  • Fixed grouping: each individual activity block is shown as a separate item. This gives maximum granularity but produces a denser view.

Show calendar events

Display events from your connected calendars next to your activity.

Show active time

Display how much of each activity block you were actively using apps.

Auto-assign tasks

When enabled, the top suggested task is applied automatically when you log time. You can always change it later. This needs Smart Suggestions to be turned on.

Block list

The block list shows every app (and every website you visit in Google Chrome) detected while the desktop app is active. Excluding an app or website stops it from being recorded, and it no longer appears in your timeline. Blocked apps are excluded from all tracking features, including Smart Suggestions and Autotracker.

Reading your activity (desktop)

Each block on the timeline gets a name, so you can see at a glance what you were working on:

  • If you've turned on AI names (see below), an AI model on your computer names the block from its window titles.
  • Without AI names, a block takes the name of a similar past time log and is marked From a past time log.

Hover over a block to see the apps and window titles in it. Hover over an app or a window title to see exactly which minutes went to it.

Logging time from the timeline

Suggested time logs (desktop)

Hover over a block to see up to three suggested time logs, each with a description, project, task and tags taken from your own time logs. Click Log on a suggestion to create that time entry.

Suggestions get better as you log. If you don't have any time logs yet, they match your activity against your task and project names.

To limit suggestions to certain projects, open Name activities with AI (the AI button above the timeline) and choose them under Suggest from. Suggestions and Auto-log day drafts then come only from those projects.

Auto-log day (desktop)

Auto-log day drafts a time log for every unlogged block of the day in the Logged time column:

  1. Click Auto-log day above the timeline.
  2. Check the drafts. Blocks with a confident match come with a project already picked. Blocks marked No confident suggestion also offer their most likely project to pick.
  3. Click Log selected to create the time entries, or Discard drafts to drop them.

Changed your mind? Click Undo in the confirmation message, or press ⌘Z (Mac) / Ctrl+Z (Windows).

Logging a block manually

Hover over any activity block to reveal the Log time option. You can also right-click a block to access the same action.

When logging time, you can:

  • Add a description
  • Assign a project
  • Drag the edges of the block to adjust the duration. The time display on the left updates automatically

When a project is assigned, the activity block changes colour to match that project, making it easy to see which blocks belong to which project.

Splitting and merging blocks (desktop)

If a block covers two different pieces of work, hover over it and click Split block to cut it at the point shown. If neighbouring blocks belong together, use Merge with previous or Merge with next.

Both actions can be undone. Split and merge changes are saved on that device only.

AI names

AI names are optional and turned on per device:

  1. In My activity, click the AI button above the timeline (Name activities with AI).
  2. Click Download model. This is a one-time download of a few gigabytes; the exact size is shown before you start.
  3. Once the model is ready, blocks are named on your device. Names are suggestions you can edit when you log time.

After the download, AI names work offline. To stop using them, open the same menu and click Turn off. This deletes the downloaded model.

The model needs a graphics card that supports WebGPU, and it works best on Apple Silicon Macs. If your device can't run it, you see This browser or device can't run the model. Suggestions and Auto-log day still work without it.

Privacy and data storage

  • Activity Timeline data is device-specific and stored locally. Other workspace users (including admins) do not have access to it.
  • Activity Timeline data is kept on the local machine for the last 30 days.
  • AI names, suggestions and Auto-log day all run on your own computer. Your window titles and activity never leave the device. The network is used only to download the model.