---
title: Manual Mode
description: Manual Mode is the Log time switch on the Timer page — record work you have already finished with a duration or a start and stop.
---
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1. [Toggl 2.0 Knowledge Base](https://docs.toggl.com/?hsLang=en)
2. [Using Toggl, page by page](https://docs.toggl.com/using-toggl-page-by-page?hsLang=en)
3. [Timer](https://docs.toggl.com/using-toggl-page-by-page?hsLang=en#timer)
# Manual Mode
## Manual Mode is the Log time switch on the Timer page — record work you have already finished with a duration or a start and stop.
Log time you have already spent, straight from the timer bar — no calendar, no time logs page.
The timer bar has two modes. **Timer** starts a running timer for work you are about to do. **Log time** (Manual Mode) saves an entry for work you have already finished. A switch beside the play button flips between them.
### Turn Manual Mode on
1. Open the **Timer** page and make sure no timer is running — the switch only appears when the bar is idle.
2. Click the switch to the right of the play button, or press **M**.
3. The prompt changes to *What have you done?* and the play button becomes a **+**.
The mode is remembered in your browser, so the bar opens the way you left it. Press **M** again (or click the switch) to go back to Timer.
The **M** shortcut needs keyboard shortcuts turned on in your profile settings.
### Log an entry
1. Type what you did in the description field. If you want, choose a project or task from the project/task picker (picking a task fills in its project) and add tags.
2. Set the time. Either type a duration in the duration field (for example `0:30:00`), or click the field to open the **START / STOP** picker and set a start and stop time.
3. Press **Enter**, click **+**, or press **S**.
The entry appears straight away and no timer starts. The duration field resets, so the next duration you type replaces the last one rather than adding to it.
If you click **+** before filling anything in, the cursor jumps to the description field so you can pick a recent entry or task. If you have picked something but not set a time, **+** opens the time picker instead.
#### Log time for an earlier day
Open the **START / STOP** picker and choose the date you want, then set or retype the duration. The range stays on the day you picked — changing the duration moves the start time, not the date — so an entry you back-date to yesterday is saved on yesterday.
#### Log one entry without leaving Timer mode
You do not have to switch modes for a one-off. Type a duration in the duration field while still in Timer mode and the button turns into a **+** for that entry. Save it and the bar goes back to the timer. Clear the duration and the **+** turns back into play.
#### Short timers are kept
In the web and desktop apps, a timer you start and then stop after a few seconds is saved as a normal entry. It is no longer discarded, and there is no "discarded" message — the entry appearing in your calendar is the confirmation.
One case still discards: if you start a new timer while another one is running, the running entry is dropped rather than saved. That is a switch, not a stop.
#### If an entry does not save
An error message with a **Retry** button stays on screen until you act on it. **Retry** sends the same entry again, so nothing has to be retyped. Closing the message dismisses it without saving.
### When you cannot log time
The **+** button is unavailable, with the reason on the button, when:
- **No duration is set** — *Pick an entry or enter a duration to log time*.
- **A new task is still saving** — *Wait for the new task to save, then log time*. Try again in a moment.
- **Required fields are missing** — the message names the fields. On Premium workspaces, admins can require a Project, Task, Time log description or Tags on time logs. See [Required Fields for Tasks and Time Logs](https://docs.toggl.com/required-fields-for-tasks-in-toggl-2-0?hsLang=en).
- **Today falls inside an approved or locked timesheet period** — the period has to be reopened before you can log into it. See [Timesheet Approvals in Toggl](https://docs.toggl.com/timesheet-approvals-in-toggl-2.0?hsLang=en).
### Good to know
- Smart suggestions do not appear in Log time mode, because a suggestion starts a live timer.
- The duration field and the START / STOP picker are the same in both modes and do not move when you switch.
- Manual Mode is on all plans.
- The switch is in the web app and the desktop app. On mobile, a timer you stop within a few seconds is still discarded.
### Other ways to log past time
- **Calendar view** — click an empty slot, or click and drag, to create an entry for that time.
- **Timesheet view** — fill a week in a grid, or a calendar month when your team is on monthly timesheet approvals. See [Using the Timesheet view](https://docs.toggl.com/using-the-timesheet-view?hsLang=en).
- **Continue a past entry** — in Log history, open the three-dot menu on an entry and choose Continue.
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