Time Tracking in Toggl Focus
Track time your way — whether you prefer capturing time as it happens, logging it at the end of the day, working in focused sprints, or letting the app track it for you automatically.
The Timer Page
The Timer page is your main workspace for time tracking. To access it, click the Timer icon in the left navigation bar.
The page has two main areas:
- Timer bar (top) — start a new time entry or see what's currently running
- Entry views (below) — switch between Calendar and Log history to review your logged time or create entries
Use the date picker to navigate between days or weeks.
What's in a time entry
Each time entry records:
- Task — what you were working on
- Project — the project it belongs to
- Tags — for categorizing your time
- Start time, end time, and duration
- Date
On Premium workspaces, admins can make Project and/or Tags required fields for all time entries.
Ways to log time
Real-time timer Click the play button in the timer bar to start tracking as you work. The timer runs until you stop it.
From a task Open any task and click the play button inside it to start a timer directly linked to that task.
Manual entry Add a task name and enter a start time and end time.
In Calendar view Click any empty slot in the calendar to create a time entry for that time. You can also click an existing entry and hit the play icon to start a new timer with the same details.
Continue a previous entry In the Log history view, click the three dots on any past entry and click the continue button. This starts a new timer with the same description, project, and tags.
Browser extension Start timers directly from tools like Jira or Asana without switching tabs. Learn more here.
Smart Suggestions (desktop app) The desktop app surfaces suggestions based on your recent activity, so recurring work can be logged with a single click. Learn more here.
Automated time tracking (desktop app) The app detects which apps and websites you're using and suggests time entries automatically. You can also mark a scheduled time block as done in My Time to auto-track it, or do this for an entire day at once. Tracked vs. planned time is displayed under each day in the calendar view. See Automated Time Tracking for setup details. Learn more here.
Timer modes
When you start an active timer, choose the mode that fits how you work:
Count up The default. Timer starts at 0:00 and counts upward until you stop it. Best for open-ended work sessions where you want to capture exactly how long something takes.
Countdown Set a duration before you start — the timer counts down from that time to zero. Useful when you've given yourself a fixed window to complete something.
Pomodoro Work in focused intervals separated by short breaks. The timer runs through a work session, then prompts you to take a break before the next round. You can customize both the work and break durations. See How to enable the Pomodoro timer for details.
Focus mode Cut out distractions while a timer is running. Click the Focus mode button in the timer bar to hide everything except your current entry — clean, minimal, distraction-free.
Keyboard shortcuts
A few shortcuts worth knowing:
| Action | Shortcut |
|---|---|
| Start or stop timer | S |
| Enter Focus mode | F |
| Show all shortcuts | Shift + ? |
Quick tips
- Use the 3-dot menu on a running entry to discard it
- Keyboard shortcuts work when no input field is active