Time Tracking in Toggl Focus

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 log can include:

• Description — a short note about what you were working on (typed directly into the timer bar)
• Task — a specific task the entry is linked to
• Project — the project the entry belongs to
• Tags — for categorizing your time
• Billable — mark the entry as billable, independently of its task or project. Unless chosen otherwise, the time entry inherits the billable setting of its task or project. 
• Start time, end time, and duration
• Date

You can log time with just a description, just a task, just a project, or any combination of the above — pick the level of detail that fits your setup.

On Premium workspaces, admins can make Project and/or Tags required fields for all tasks.

Ways to log time

Real-time timer Type a description into the timer bar and click the play button to start tracking as you work. The timer runs until you stop it. You can add (or change) a task, project, tags, or the billable flag at any time while it's running or after you stop.

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 description and enter a start time and end time. Task and project are optional.

In Calendar view Click any empty slot in the calendar to create a time log for that time. You can also click an existing time log and hit the play icon to start a new timer with the same details.

Continue a previous time log In the Log history view, click the three dots on any past time log and click the continue button. This starts a new timer with the same description, task, project, tags, and billable setting.

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 logs 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. 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. 

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:

Quick tips

• Use the 3-dot menu on a running log to discard it 
• Keyboard shortcuts work when no input field is active