---
title: Toggl End-User Guide
description: Everything a Toggl user needs to get started — tracking time, planning ahead, organizing work, and understanding your reports.
---
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1. [Toggl 2.0 Knowledge Base](https://docs.toggl.com/?hsLang=en)
2. [Getting started](https://docs.toggl.com/getting-started?hsLang=en)
3. [Quickstart Guides](https://docs.toggl.com/getting-started?hsLang=en#quickstart-guides)
# Toggl End-User Guide
## A step-by-step guide for Toggl users including tracking and planning time, organizing projects and tasks, understanding reports, and managing account settings.
Welcome to Toggl! This guide is designed to help you get started with time tracking — and planning — in Toggl 2.0, whether you're new to time tracking or coming over from Toggl Track.
### 1. The Basics: How to Track Time
The **Timer page** is your main command center — open it from the Timer icon in the left navigation. There are a few ways to capture your time here.
#### **Timer Mode (Real-Time Tracking)**
This is the default mode, best for when you're about to start a task.
- **How to use:** Type a description into the Timer bar at the top, click **Project or task** to choose a project, task or subtask from one list, and click the play button. Choose a timer mode (optional): Before you click play, click the timer mode button next to it to choose Count up from zero (the default), Count down from set time, or Pomodoro.
- **Stop the timer:** When you're finished, click the **stop button**.
**Tip:** You can add or update the task, project, and billable status while the timer runs or after you stop it.
#### **Manual Mode (Adding Past Time)**
Use this if you forgot to start the timer or want to log something after the fact.
Flip the switch beside the play button (or press *M*) to put the timer bar in Log time mode, then type a duration or pick a start and stop and press
**Tip:** Open the three-dot menu on a past time log in Log history and choose **Continue** to restart a timer with the same details — handy for recurring work.
#### **Calendar Mode (Planning Ahead)**
Every time log can represent something you already did (logged) or something you've scheduled (planned) — shown together on one Calendar.
- **How to use:** Click an empty slot to create a time log for that time, or click and drag to block out a range.
Connect your [Google or Outlook calendar](https://docs.toggl.com/managing-calendar-events?hsLang=en) so your meetings show up alongside your tracked and planned work.
#### **Timesheet Mode (Premium and above)**
If your admin has turned on Timesheet Approvals, the Timesheet view (the grid icon next to Calendar) lets you review and fill in one approval period, then submit it. A weekly setup shows that week, labeled **Approval week**. A monthly setup shows the calendar month, labeled **Approval month**, with **This month**, **Copy last month**, and **Week 1**–**Week 4** or **Week 5** to move inside the month. You still submit the month once.
- **How to use:** Fill in any missing time for the period and click submit. Your approver can request changes or approve it; once approved, the period locks and you can't edit it yourself.
- See [Timesheet Approvals in Toggl](https://docs.toggl.com/timesheet-approvals-in-toggl-2.0?hsLang=en)
### 2. Organizing Your Time
To get useful reports later, you need to categorize your time — not just **that** you worked, but **what** you worked on.
#### **Projects**
Projects are the main container for related work — dates, estimates, billable rates, and fixed fees all live here.
- **Create a Project:** Go to the **Projects** tab in the left sidebar.
- **Assigning**: In the Timer bar, click **Project or task** (or type **+**) and search for the project. You can select the project itself, or expand it and pick one of its tasks or subtasks. The project is set for you either way.
- **Private by default:** new projects are visible only to their members and workspace admins. Whoever creates one automatically becomes its **Project Manager**; everyone else added defaults to **Project User**. See [Private Projects and Tasks in Toggl.](https://docs.toggl.com/private-projects-and-tasks-in-toggl-2-0?hsLang=en)
- **Recurring projects:** if a project repeats on a schedule (weekly, monthly, and so on), it can be set to recur instead of being rebuilt each time — ask your admin if this is set up for work you do regularly. See [Set Up a Recurring Project in Toggl.](https://docs.toggl.com/set-up-a-recurring-project-in-toggl-2-0?hsLang=en)
#### **Tasks**
Tasks are a piece of work inside a project, with more structure built in than a simple to-do.
- **What you can set:** A task can have an assignee, dates, a time estimate, priority, and status, and it's what your Timeline and Calendar views are built on.
- **Personal to-dos:** A task doesn't need a project at all — it can stand alone as a personal to-do.
#### **Tags**
Tags can be applied to projects, tasks, planned entries, calendar events, and individual time logs. A time log linked to a task starts with the task’s tags, but its tags can be changed without changing the task. Matching rules can apply tags to recurring calendar events before they are logged.
#### **Custom Fields**
On Premium and above, your admin can set up **Custom Fields** — structured, predefined categories (like a billing code or region) on projects and tasks, separate from Tags. If your workspace uses them, you'll see them on the Project page or in the task modal, and can fill them in the same way you would a Tag. See [Project-Level Custom Fields](https://docs.toggl.com/project-level-custom-fields?hsLang=en) and [Task-Level Custom Fields](https://docs.toggl.com/task-level-custom-fields?hsLang=en).
#### **Clients (Optional)**
Clients group your projects together.
- **Freelancers and small teams:** Use this for actual clients.
- **Note:** A project can only have one client, and clients can't be linked directly to a time log — that connection happens through the project.
### 3. Analyzing Your Data (Reports)
Once you've tracked time for a few days, the **Reports** section becomes useful.
#### **Summary Report**
- **Best for:** A high-level overview — "How much time did I spend on this project this week?"
- **Features:** Charts and graphs breaking down time by project or client.
- See [Summary Report in Toggl](https://docs.toggl.com/summary-report-in-toggl-2-0?hsLang=en).
#### **Time Logs Report**
- **Best for:** Reviewing specific entries or billing.
- **Features:** A line-by-line list of every time log, filterable by date, project, or task, with the option to bulk-edit several entries at once.
- See [Time Logs Report in Toggl](https://docs.toggl.com/time-logs-report-in-toggl-2-0?hsLang=en).
#### **Workload & Utilization (New in Toggl, Premium and above)**
Beyond the Summary and Time Logs reports, Toggl 2.0 adds two team-level views built from your Availability settings (see below): the **Workload Report** shows daily hours logged per person against their work-hours capacity, flagging overtime in red; the **Utilization Report** shows what percentage of that capacity was spent on billable, logged work against a target your admin sets. Only Managers and Admins see other members' data in these reports. See [Utilization and Workload Reports in Toggl](https://docs.toggl.com/utilization-and-workload-reports-in-toggl-2-0?hsLang=en).
### 4. Goals
Set recurring time targets for yourself — tied to a project, task, tag, or client — and Toggl tracks your progress automatically from matching time entries as you work, no manual updates needed.
- **At least** goals (e.g. "at least 5 hours of billable work every day") or **Less than** caps (e.g. "less than 5 hours of meetings a week").
- Live in the **Goals widget** on your Timer page, and on a full **Goals page** with stats, streaks, and archived history.
- You can have up to **4 active goals** at a time; archive one to free a slot.
- Goals are personal — only you see yours, and there are no team or shared goals.
- Available on web and desktop; mobile support isn't there yet.
See [Goals in Toggl](https://docs.toggl.com/goals-in-toggl-2.0?hsLang=en).
### 5. Key Concepts & Settings
#### **Organizations & Workspaces**
- **What they are:** The Organization sits above the Workspace. Clients, projects, tasks, tags, and time logs all live at the workspace level.
- **Warning:** Workspaces are silos — if you're tracking time in the wrong workspace, it won't show up in another workspace's reports, so check which one is active before you start.
#### **Desktop, Mobile & Browser Extension**
You don't have to keep a browser tab open to track time.
- **Desktop (Mac/Windows):** Includes an Auto-tracker (keyword-based automatic start/stop), a Desktop Activity Timeline, Global Shortcuts, Smart Suggestions, and Idle Detection.
- **Mobile (iOS/Android):** For logging and adjusting time on the go.
- **Browser Extension:** Start and stop timers from inside tools you already use — GitHub, Jira, Asana, Notion, Slack, Trello, and others. See [Toggl Browser Extension](https://docs.toggl.com/toggl-2-0-browser-extension?hsLang=en).
### 6. Managing Your Account
Keep your account secure and up to date from your **Profile Settings**.
#### **Log In Options**
You have a few ways to log in and keep your account secure:
- **Google or Apple Sign-In:** Link your account for one-click access.
- **Passkeys:** Log in with FaceID, TouchID, or your device PIN instead of a password.
- **Two-Factor Authentication:** Available from your Profile Settings.
#### **Resetting Your Password**
Go to the password reset page, enter your email, and follow the link. If you use Google or Apple Sign-In, you won't have a separate password to reset unless you set one up.
#### **Updating Personal Details**
Head to your Profile page to update your full name and timezone.
#### **Availability: Time Off, Work Hours, and Public Holidays**
Set your own availability from Settings so the Timeline (and, on Premium, the Workload and Utilization reports) reflect your real capacity (see [Availability Settings: Time Off, Work Hours, and Public Holidays](https://docs.toggl.com/availability-settings-time-off-work-hours-and-public-holidays?hsLang=en)):
- **Time off:** add a start and end date under Settings → Availability → Time Off, and you'll show as unavailable on the Timeline for that period.
- **Work hours:** set your total weekly hours and a schedule (no schedule, standard 8-hour, or custom per day) under Settings → Availability → Work Hours.
- **Public holidays:** Provided by your organization’s Holiday calendar and shown under **Profile Settings → Availability**. Depending on the source mode chosen by an organization admin, national holidays come from your profile country or one country selected for everyone. They reduce available capacity and require no Time Off request. See [Organizational Holiday Calendar](https://docs.toggl.com/organizational-holiday-calendar?hsLang=en).
#### **Time Tracking Reminders**
On Premium and above, your admin can set up email reminders if your logged time falls short of a target — a threshold (e.g. "less than 40 hours") and a deadline ("by end of the day" or "by end of the week"). See [Time Tracking Reminders and Project Alerts](https://docs.toggl.com/time-tracking-reminders-and-project-alerts?hsLang=en).
### 7. Quick Tips for Success
- **Start simple:** A time log only needs a start time — add project, task, or description later if you're not sure yet.
- **Use Log/Plan together:** Block out your day ahead of time, then convert planned blocks into logged time as you go.
- **Use Continue for recurring work** instead of retyping the same entry.
- Try **Countdown** or **Pomodoro** timer modes if a fixed work interval suits you better.
- **Keep task names consistent** across projects so Timeline filters and reports stay comparable.
- **Learn the shortcuts:** `S` starts/stops the timer, `F` opens Focus mode, `Shift + ?` shows all shortcuts.
- [Getting started](https://docs.toggl.com/getting-started?hsLang=en#main-content)
- [Quickstart Guides](https://docs.toggl.com/getting-started?hsLang=en#quickstart-guides)
- [Set up your Workspace](https://docs.toggl.com/getting-started?hsLang=en#set-up-your-workspace)
- [Toggl Guides for Toggl Track and Toggl Plan users](https://docs.toggl.com/getting-started?hsLang=en#toggl-guides-for-toggl-track-and-toggl-plan-users)
- [Using Toggl, page by page](https://docs.toggl.com/using-toggl-page-by-page?hsLang=en#main-content)
- [Timer](https://docs.toggl.com/using-toggl-page-by-page?hsLang=en#timer)
- [Features](https://docs.toggl.com/features?hsLang=en#main-content)
- [Single Sign On](https://docs.toggl.com/features?hsLang=en#single-sign-on)
- [Analyze](https://docs.toggl.com/features?hsLang=en#analyze)
- [Time Off](https://docs.toggl.com/features?hsLang=en#time-off)
- [Settings](https://docs.toggl.com/features?hsLang=en#settings)
- [Toggl Apps](https://docs.toggl.com/toggl-apps?hsLang=en#main-content)
- [Desktop](https://docs.toggl.com/toggl-apps?hsLang=en#desktop)
- [Browser Extension](https://docs.toggl.com/toggl-apps?hsLang=en#browser-extension)
- [Account & Billing](https://docs.toggl.com/account-billing?hsLang=en)
- [API & Integrations](https://docs.toggl.com/api-integrations?hsLang=en)
- [Troubleshooting & FAQs](https://docs.toggl.com/troubleshooting-faqs?hsLang=en#main-content)
- [My Toggl Acount](https://docs.toggl.com/troubleshooting-faqs?hsLang=en#my-toggl-acount)
- [Members](https://docs.toggl.com/troubleshooting-faqs?hsLang=en#members)
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