How SCREENish Time Tracking with screenshots helps you manage Employees and Costs

About SCREENish Time Tracking

SCREENish is time and attendance software that tracks screenshots, activity, and attendance for your in-house, mobile, or remote team. Available for Windows, Mac, and Linux.

Activity Review: Checking Unusual Activity

SCREENish can flag a stretch of tracked time that looks like it may have been produced by an auto-clicker, a mouse jiggler or a similar tool. Anything it notices goes to Activity review for a person to look at. It is never an automatic accusation — no time is rejected and nobody is penalised unless you decide to act.

Each card explains Why it surfaced. When there is a legitimate reason for what was seen, such as a remote-desktop session, the card says Benign explanation detected — check before acting. Take that seriously: it usually means nothing is wrong.

Read the card, open the screenshots, then choose Confirm, Dismiss – false positive, or Need more info. When in doubt, talk to the person before you confirm anything.

Adding a Payment Method

Go to SUBSCRIPTION and click ADD PAYMENT METHOD. We accept Visa, Mastercard, Maestro, and Discover.

Fill out the form, agree to the Terms of Service, and click ADD PAYMENT METHOD. That's it!

Adding a Project Description

In the PROJECT menu, click on the project description field to edit it. Click Save when done, or Cancel to discard changes.

Android GPS Tracking

For employees using the Android Time and GPS tracking app, go to WORK LOGS, select an employee and date. You'll see their recorded activity including location, time, notes, and photos. Approve or reject time entries as usual.

Approvals: Applying Your Rule to Past Screenshots

Your approval rule only affects screenshots that arrive after you save it. To apply it to screenshots you already have, go to EDIT PROFILE > Activity & approval settings > Apply rule to existing screenshots.

Choose a start and end date, then press Apply to all active employees. SCREENish walks the existing screenshots of every active employee in that range and applies the rule you saved above.

This cannot be undone. Try a single day first and check the result in WORK LOGS before you run a longer range. To redo one person only, with a different idle choice, use Approvals: Bulk Approving One Worker instead.

Approvals: Automatic Screenshot Approval

You do not have to approve every screenshot by hand. Go to EDIT PROFILE > Activity & approval settings > Screenshot approval and pick one:

• Manual — I approve screenshots myself (default)
• Auto-approve all screenshots
• Auto-approve, but unapprove heavy idle (> 7 min)
• Auto-approve, but unapprove any idle time

Press Apply to save. Unapproving idle time automatically approves the rest, so you only review what actually needs a look.

The rule applies to screenshots that arrive from now on. To cover screenshots you already have, see Approvals: Applying Your Rule to Past Screenshots.

Approvals: Bulk Approving One Worker

To approve a single worker's existing screenshots, open their WORK LOGS and press Bulk approve. Pick a From and To date and choose how idle time is handled:

• Approve all screenshots — including idle time.
• Approve, but reject idle over 7 minutes
• Reject any idle time — approve active time only.

The choice you make here applies to this run only — it does not change, and is not taken from, the rule saved in your profile. Press Apply to finish. It cannot be undone.

For a quick pass instead, Approve All Good approves only the windows that recorded activity and no idle time.

Approving or Rejecting Work

In WORK LOGS, review screenshots and activity data, then approve or reject time entries using the checkboxes. Use Approve All or Disapprove All to handle multiple entries at once.

Assigning a Project to an Employee

In the PROJECT menu, go to the Assign Projects to Employee tab. Find the employee and use the Add Project dropdown to assign them to a project.

Billing: Company Details on Your Invoices

The details printed on your invoices come from your profile, so fill them in before your first payment. Go to EDIT PROFILE > Company & Personal Info.

• Choose Company or Personal.
• Fill in the name, Address, City, State and Postal.
• Businesses in the EU should add a VAT ID — for example BG205586868.

Save when you are done. Anything you change here appears on invoices issued from that point on, so it is worth getting right early. Check your Time Zone in the same panel too — it affects how invoices, payrolls and graphs are dated.

Billing: Finding Your Invoices

Open INVOICES to see your Monthly and proration invoices. Each line shows the date and the amount charged; click Invoice on the right to open a printable copy in a new tab.

An invoice number is issued only when a payment actually goes through. If you are still on trial, or a card has been declined, the charge has no invoice yet — that is normal and nothing is missing.

If you have just been charged and the list still says No Invoices just yet, give it a little time: it can take a while before the latest invoices show up here.

Changing Hourly Rates Retroactively

Need to update rates for past work? Use the Change Hourly Rate Tool.

Select an employee, set the date range, choose which projects to update, and enter the new rate. Check Adjust Project prices accordingly to update future rates too.

You'll see a summary before confirming. An email notification logs all changes for security.

Changing Your Avatar

Click the profile icon in the top right corner and select Edit profile. Click Select Image to upload a new avatar.

Changing Your Email Address

Your email address is your login and where SCREENish sends reports and alerts. To change it, go to EDIT PROFILE > Change Email Address.

• Type your New Email Address, then repeat it in Confirm New Email Address.
• Save the change.

You must verify the new address. SCREENish sends a verification link to it — open that email and click the link to finish. Until you do, your old address stays active, so nothing breaks if you mistype.

Changing Your Name

Click the profile icon in the top right corner and select Edit profile. Update your name in the Personal Info section and click Change Info.

Changing Your Password

Click the profile icon in the top right corner and select Edit profile. Enter your old password and new password, then click Change Password.

Checking Employee Activity and Productivity

In WORK LOGS, select an employee and date to see their recorded activity. Screenshots are captured randomly (5-10 per interval) every 10 minutes and stored for 45 days.

Click on any screenshot to see keyboard/mouse activity, idle time, and employee notes. Hover for a quick preview, or click for the full-size image. You can also view Active Programs used during that time.

Checking Employee Working Hours

Go to ACCOUNTING and select an employee from the dropdown. Set a date range using From date and To date, or click This week or This month for quick selection. Choose Approved, Disapproved, or Both to filter results.

Choosing Your Subscription Plan

After registering, you'll choose your subscription plan.

Your first 10 days are free. If SCREENish isn't right for you, just leave before day 11—no payment info required. If you don't add a payment method by then, we'll close your trial account automatically.

When you first log in, you'll see the SUBSCRIPTION page with a slider. Use it to select how many team members you want to track, then click Subscribe.

Done!

Chrome Extension: Fixing Clock Errors

If the extension reports that your computer's clock is wrong, time tracking stops until the clock is fixed. The alert shows the exact steps for your operating system — usually enabling automatic date & time in the system settings.

Everything recorded before the stop is safe and uploads automatically once the clock is correct and you press Start again.

Chrome Extension: Getting Started

The SCREENish Chrome extension tracks time on any computer that runs Chrome — including Chromebooks — with nothing to install beyond the browser.

• Install the extension from the link your employer sent.
• Click the SCREENish icon in Chrome and log in with your employee account.
• Choose your Project Manager and project, then press START TRACKING TIME.
• Chrome asks which screen to share — select your screen and confirm.

While tracking, the extension takes one screenshot per minute and reports your time every 10 minutes. Press STOP TRACKING TIME (or end the screen share) and tracking stops instantly.

Chrome Extension: How Activity Levels Are Measured

Each 10-minute report carries an activity level so your employer sees engagement at a glance — without invasive monitoring.

• Active (400 activities) — the computer was in use for the whole window.
• Partially active (50 activities) — part of the window passed without keyboard or mouse input.
• Idle (0 activities) — the whole window passed without input.

Activity is measured only from whether the computer is in use — never from what you type or click. It works even when your employer has idle-time prompts switched off: you won't see any "Still there?" reminders and no idle time is deducted, but the activity level stays accurate.

Chrome Extension: Team Huddle — Calls, Chat and Files

Press the Huddle button in the tracker to see which teammates are online.

• Chat 1:1 — messages are stored only on your own devices, encrypted.
• Start an audio or video call with one click. Calls are never recorded.
• Send files to teammates directly, device to device — they never touch SCREENish servers.

Incoming calls ring even while the huddle window is closed, as long as a project is selected.

Chrome Extension: What It Records (and What It Doesn't)

While you track, the extension records screenshots of the one screen you chose, your work time, idle time and an activity level.

It does not record keystrokes, mouse clicks, browsing history, or the list of programs you use. Activity levels are derived only from whether your computer is in use. Screenshots and not-yet-reported time are stored encrypted on your computer until they upload to your employer's account, and screenshots are deleted automatically 3 months after capture.

Chrome Extension: Working Offline

Lost your connection mid-work? Keep working. The extension keeps recording time and screenshots, stores everything encrypted on your computer, and uploads automatically when the connection returns — hours or even days later. Nothing is lost: your reports appear in WORK LOGS complete, exactly as if you had been online the whole time.

Client Sharing: What Your Client Can See

When you share a project from PROJECTS > Share with client, your client gets a link and a time-limited password. No SCREENish account is needed.

They see a read-only view of that one project and nothing else — no other project, no payroll, no rates, and none of your other employees. They cannot approve, reject or change anything.

You stay in control: Resend Invitation sends the link again, and Make Private revokes access immediately. To set a share up in the first place, see Sharing Project Progress with Clients.

Consent: Requesting Consent from Your Team

Some features cannot be switched on until the employee agrees to them. Face Recognition is the main one — the employee must grant consent before you can enable it for them.

Go to PROJECTS, find the employee, and use Request Consent in the Face Recognition column. They see your request the next time they open their dashboard, and can accept or decline it.

Their answer is recorded with a date and kept as proof for your records. Consent is theirs to give — if they decline, the feature stays off, and that is the end of it. You cannot enable it on their behalf.

Consent: Responding to a Consent Request

If your employer asks for your consent to a feature, a request appears when you open your dashboard and stays on screen until you answer it. It tells you which employer is asking and what they are asking for.

Read it and choose whether to agree. Your answer is recorded with the date. Nothing is switched on before you agree, and agreeing to one employer does not agree for any other.

Changed your mind? Face Recognition consent can be withdrawn at any time from EDIT PROFILE > Face Verification Profile Photos — see Face Recognition: Setting Up Your Photo.

Creating and Deleting Projects

Go to the PROJECT menu and click Create New Project to add a project. To delete a project, click the Remove button next to it.

Deactivating and Reactivating Employees

To remove an employee from your team, click Remove Employee in the INVITE EMPLOYEE menu. They'll move to the Deactivated users section.

To bring them back, click Restore User. (Reactivation only works if you have available slots in your subscription.)

Downloading Accounting Reports

Go to Accounting, select employees/projects, set your filters and date range, then click Download in XLS format.

Downloading the SCREENish App

Go to DOWNLOAD TEAM APP to get the time tracking software. SCREENish is available for:

Windows:

Mac:

Linux (RHEL7, RHEL6, Debian, Ubuntu):

Downloading the SCREENish Beta App

Some new features ship to the beta version of the tracking application before they reach the stable one — screenshot privacy blurring is one of them. To get the beta, open Downloads in your employee dashboard and use the Beta Version row for your system (Windows, macOS or Linux).

Install it like the regular application, then log in to the tracker again. If you ever want to go back, the stable version is on the same Downloads page.

Beta builds are the newest code we have — they carry the latest features first, and occasionally a rough edge. If a feature your employer enabled does not seem to be working (for example screenshot blurring — see Screenshots: Choosing a Privacy Blur Mode), an outdated app is the first thing to check.

Enabling Manual Time Entry

To allow employees to enter time manually:

• Create a project
• Assign it to your employee(s)
• Toggle the Manual Time switch for each employee

Face Recognition: Approving Employee Photos

Face Recognition is in beta. Before you can use it for someone, they must grant consent — see Consent: Requesting Consent from Your Team.

Once consent is given, ask the employee to set up a photo from the Face Recognition column in PROJECTS. When their photo arrives it waits for you to check it.

• Open the photo and make sure the face is clear, lit and unmistakably theirs.
• Press Approve to accept it, or Reject with a reason so they know what to fix.
• After approving, press Enable Face Recognition to switch checking on.

A rejected photo simply means they submit a better one — nothing else changes.

Face Recognition: Enabling It for an Employee

Face Recognition is set up per employee from the Face Recognition column in PROJECTS. It is in beta.

• Request Consent — the employee must grant consent before anything else. They respond from their own dashboard.
• Request Photo — ask them to submit a face photo (use Request New Photo if you need a fresh one).
• Open the Face Recognition Setup window to Approve or Reject the photo.
• Press Enable Face Recognition to switch checking on.

Set the minimum match rate in the same column — see Face Recognition: Setting the Match Rate. If a webcam misbehaves, a notice appears in the work log; see Work Logs: Camera Notices During Face Verification.

Face Recognition: How It Works

Face Recognition confirms that the person tracking time is the employee you hired. It is optional, consent-first, and currently in beta.

The flow has four parts:

• Consent. The employee grants consent for your company — per employer, and withdrawable at any time. Nothing runs until they agree.
• Photo. The employee submits a face photo, which you approve or reject from the Face Recognition Setup window in PROJECTS.
• Verification. Once enabled, SCREENish checks the camera during tracked sessions against the approved photo.
• Match rate. You set the minimum acceptance rate; the per-hour match result appears in WORK LOGS.

A low match rate is a prompt to talk, not proof of anything — cameras and lighting fail far more often than people do.

Face Recognition: Setting the Match Rate

Each employee with Face Recognition enabled has a minimum acceptance rate, set in the Face Recognition column in PROJECTS. It is the confidence SCREENish needs before it counts a check as a match.

Higher is stricter. Set it too high and ordinary things — a dim room, a new pair of glasses, a hat — start failing honest checks. Most teams are best served leaving it at the default and only raising it if they have a reason to.

The match rate per hour shows in WORK LOGS. A low rate is worth a conversation, not a conclusion — cameras and lighting fail far more often than people do.

Face Recognition: Setting Up Your Photo

Face Recognition is optional and currently in beta. It only ever runs for an employer you have agreed to it for.

Open EDIT PROFILE > Face Verification Profile Photos. You get one entry per employer who has asked for it, each with its own Face Recognition Consent switch showing Granted or Not Granted. Turn the switch on to agree, off to withdraw at any time.

Once you consent, your employer requests a profile photo and then approves or rejects it. Your photo is used only to check that it is you during work sessions, and is never shared with other employers.

Face Recognition: What Employees See

If your employer turns on Face Recognition, it never starts without your agreement. You will get a consent request when you open your dashboard.

Open EDIT PROFILE > Face Verification Profile Photos to manage it. Each employer who asked for it has its own entry with a Face Recognition Consent switch showing Granted or Not Granted.

• Turn the switch on to agree, then upload a clear, well-lit face photo.
• Your photo shows a status: Pending, Approved or Rejected. A rejected photo just means you upload a better one.
• Turn the switch off at any time to withdraw consent — verification stops immediately.

Your photo is used only to confirm it is you during work sessions, and is never shared with any other employer.

Finding Pending Invitations

Employees who haven't responded to your invitation appear in the Waiting to join your team section of the INVITE EMPLOYEE menu.

Fixing System Time Errors

If you see "Unable to upload report because your system time is not correct," you need to sync your computer's clock.

Windows 10: Go to Settings > Time & Language > Date & Time, then click Sync now.

How to Invite Employees

Go to the INVITE EMPLOYEE menu, enter the employee's email address, and click Invite Employee.

Note: Each invitation counts toward your subscription limit, even if the employee hasn't accepted yet. To free up a slot, cancel any pending invitations you no longer need.

Installing SCREENish on Mac

Step 1: Log in to screenish.com and download the DMG file.

Step 2: Double-click the DMG file to open it.

Step 3: Drag the SCREENish icon to the Applications folder.

Step 4: Eject the DMG (right-click > Eject).

Step 5: Open SCREENish from Applications. Click Open if prompted about the download source.

Step 6: Grant permissions (Screen Recording, Input Monitoring) when requested. You can adjust these later in System Settings > Privacy & Security.

Inviting Your Team

Once you've registered and confirmed your email, you can invite team members.

Go to INVITE EMPLOYEE in the menu. Enter an email address in the input field and click INVITE EMPLOYEE.

Invited employees appear in the Waiting to join your team section. They'll receive an email with instructions to set up their account.

After they complete registration, they'll move to the Active employees in your Team section.

Linux: Wayland Screenshot Support

Wayland's security design prevents screen capture by most apps. SCREENish requires X11 to capture screenshots.

Check your display server:

echo $XDG_SESSION_TYPE

If it shows wayland, switch to X11. See: How to switch from Wayland to Xorg

If it shows x11, screenshots should work normally.

Low Memory: Freeing Up Space on the Windows System Drive (C:)

Follow this guide if SCREENish told you that the system drive is almost full, so Windows cannot extend virtual memory — or if you simply want more free space. Aim for at least 5–10 GB free on drive C:.

Quick wins (5 minutes)

1. Empty the Recycle Bin. Right-click the Recycle Bin on the desktop, then choose Empty Recycle Bin. Deleted files still take space until you do this.
2. Clean the Downloads folder. Open File Explorer > Downloads, sort by size, and delete old installers, videos and archives you no longer need.
3. Run Disk Cleanup. Press Windows, type disk cleanup, open it, select drive C:, tick everything offered (especially Temporary files and Recycle Bin), then click Clean up system files and tick Windows Update Cleanup too — this one alone often frees several GB.

Bigger wins

• Storage Sense (Windows 10/11): Settings > System > Storage. Turn Storage Sense On so temporary files get cleaned automatically, and open Temporary files to remove what is already there. The same screen shows what is taking your space (Apps, Videos, etc.).
• Uninstall unused programs: Settings > Apps > Installed apps, sort by size, remove what you don't use.
• Move personal files. Videos and photo folders can move to another drive (D:) or an external disk, or to cloud storage.

Check the result

Open File Explorer > This PC and look at the bar under Local Disk (C:). Once it shows 5–10 GB free or more, restart the computer. The SCREENish warning will disappear on its own once the danger is gone.

Related: Low Memory: What the Warning Means and How to Fix It · Low Memory: Turning On Virtual Memory (Pagefile) in Windows

Low Memory: Turning On Virtual Memory (Pagefile) in Windows

Follow this guide if SCREENish told you that this computer's virtual memory (pagefile) is turned off, or that it is fixed at a size that is too small.

What is the pagefile, in one paragraph?

The pagefile is a hidden file on your disk that Windows uses as a safety cushion when your memory (RAM) fills up. With the cushion in place, a busy day just makes the computer a bit slower. Without it, the moment RAM runs out, programs start crashing — including the time tracker, which can cost you recorded work hours. Some “PC optimization” guides recommend disabling it; that advice is outdated and harmful.

Steps (Windows 10 and Windows 11)

1. Press the Windows key, type advanced system settings, and open View advanced system settings.
2. In the window that opens, on the Advanced tab, under Performance, click Settings…
3. Go to the Advanced tab again, and under Virtual memory, click Change…
4. Tick the checkbox at the top: Automatically manage paging file size for all drives.
   (If it is already ticked but SCREENish still warned you, untick it, select drive C:, choose System managed size, click Set, then tick the automatic checkbox again.)
5. Click OK on every window. Windows will ask to restart — restart the computer now.

Related: Low Memory: What the Warning Means and How to Fix It

Low Memory: What the Warning Means and How to Fix It

If SCREENish shows a red bar at the top of the app, or a popup that says something like:

Action needed: this computer can crash and lose work time…

it means your computer is running out of memory, and — more importantly — Windows has no safety cushion left to absorb it. When a computer runs out of memory completely, programs crash without warning. If SCREENish crashes while you are working, the minutes until it comes back may not be recorded, and may not be paid. That is why the app warns you loudly.

Fix it now (takes 2 minutes)

1. Close what you don't need. Extra Chrome windows and tabs are the most common memory eaters. Close the tabs you are not using right now.
2. Restart the computer before your shift. A restart clears memory leaks that build up over days (Windows itself can slowly leak memory until you reboot).

Fix it permanently

The warning text tells you which situation applies to your computer:

• If it says the pagefile (virtual memory) is turned OFF or is fixed at a size that is too small, follow Low Memory: Turning On Virtual Memory (Pagefile) in Windows.
• If it says the system drive is almost full, follow Low Memory: Freeing Up Space on the Windows System Drive (C:).
• If the warnings keep coming back even after both fixes, your computer simply has too little memory for your daily workload. Ask about adding more RAM — going from 8 GB to 16 GB solves this for almost everyone.

Mac: Fixing Activity Tracking Issues

If mouse clicks and activity aren't being recorded on Mac:

1. Delete SCREENish from all locations
2. Download and reinstall the app
3. Grant Input Monitoring permission when prompted (quit SCREENish first)
4. Grant Accessibility permission when prompted
5. Restart SCREENish

Mac: Fixing Screenshot Issues

If screenshots show a blank desktop, you need to enable Screen Recording permission:

1. Open System Preferences > Security & Privacy
2. Click Screen Recording in the left panel
3. Click the padlock to unlock settings
4. Check the box next to SCREENish
5. Restart SCREENish

Making an Employee a Delegated Manager

You can let a trusted employee manage the team for you — useful for team leads or office managers — without sharing your owner account.

On your employees list, find the person and press Make Admin. They gain a manager dashboard (reached from their side via the admin session) where they can review work logs, approve time, manage projects and run reports for your team.

A delegated manager sees almost everything you do, with two limits: they cannot change the subscription, and they cannot make other employees managers. Press Remove Admin on the same row to take the access away at any time.

Managing Email Report Subscriptions

Go to Accounting and click Edit Report Subscriptions.

Deactivate/Activate: Toggle the button next to any report to pause or resume emails.

Delete: Click the red button next to a report and confirm deletion.

Monitoring Employee Work

Go to WORK LOGS to view employee activity. Select an employee from the dropdown on the right, then choose a date on the left to see their recorded work for that day.

Premium Hours: Paying a Higher Rate for Set Hours

Premium hours pay a bonus rate for work done inside a chosen time frame — night shifts, weekends or a crunch period. Open ACCOUNTING and choose Set Premium Hours.

• Select the project the premium applies to.
• Set the time frame. You can pick a period in the past.
• Switch on Let me set a new price for premium time and enter the Premium Price.
• Press APPLY PREMIUM TIME.

The bonus rate applies only to hours recorded on that project inside that frame, and every employee who tracked time there gets it. Premium records show with a green background in WORK LOGS, and premium time appears in your accounting reports.

Project Monitoring Options: Screenshots, Programs and Idle Time

What SCREENish records is set per project, so you can track different teams differently. Go to PROJECTS, open a project's Advanced Options, and use the Employee Monitoring toggles:

• Allow Screenshots — capture screenshots for this project, or turn them off for time-only tracking.
• Allow Program reports — record which applications and websites were used.
• Allow Idle Time Reports — detect and report inactivity.
• Setup Distraction Rules — nudge employees away from programs you mark as distractions.

While Allow Screenshots is on, a Privacy & Security — Screenshot Blurring panel also appears — see Screenshots: Choosing a Privacy Blur Mode.

Every employee assigned to the project is tracked by these settings, so choose them to match the work — a field team and a design team rarely need the same monitoring.

Project Monitoring Options: When Setting Changes Take Effect

Changes you make in a project's Advanced Options — screenshots, program reports, idle reports, distraction rules and screenshot blurring — do not reach a running tracker instantly. The tracking application receives the project's settings when it logs in.

So after you press Save Changes, ask the affected employee to log out of the time tracking application and log back in, or simply restart it. Until they do, the app keeps working with the settings it fetched at its last login — this is why the dashboard reminds you to notify your employee after saving.

Settings are never applied retroactively: anything already tracked and uploaded stays as it was, and the new settings apply from the next login onward. For what each toggle does, see Project Monitoring Options: Screenshots, Programs and Idle Time.

Registration

Signing up for SCREENish takes just a minute:

• Fill out the registration form
• Complete the captcha verification
• Accept the Terms of Service
• Click REGISTER

That's it—you're ready to go!

Removing a Project from an Employee

In the Assign Projects to Employee tab, click Remove next to the project you want to unassign. A confirmation popup will appear. Click Yes to confirm—the project will no longer be available to that employee.

Renaming a Project

In the PROJECT menu, click on the project name to edit it. Click Save when you're done, or Cancel to discard changes.

Reviewing Your Work Log (Employee View)

Go to WORK LOGS and select your employer from the dropdown. Choose a date—days you worked are marked green. Your total hours and approval status appear at the top, with screenshots below.

Hover over any screenshot to see activity details. Note: Deleting a screenshot also removes the time it represents.

Screenshots: Choosing a Privacy Blur Mode

When screenshots are enabled for a project, you can choose how much of each screenshot stays readable. Go to PROJECTS, open the project's Advanced Options, and while Allow Screenshots is on you will see the Privacy & Security — Screenshot Blurring panel with three choices:

• No Privacy — screenshots are uploaded exactly as taken, with nothing blurred.
• Blur Whole Screen — the entire screenshot is blurred just enough that no text is readable, while the window layout, colours and general activity stay visible, so work is still verifiable.
• Smart Blur (AI) — the app reads the screen and blurs only the detected sensitive information (passwords, card and IBAN numbers, emails, phone numbers, addresses, names and similar), leaving the rest readable.

Blurring happens on the employee's own computer, before the screenshot is uploaded — with blur enabled, an un-blurred copy never leaves the machine. Smart Blur needs working memory and can automatically switch to whole-screen blur on some screens — see Screenshots: When Smart Blur Blurs the Whole Screen.

Screenshot blurring currently requires the latest beta version of the tracking application. Employees on an older or stable version keep uploading screenshots without blurring until they update.

Screenshots: Deleted and Idle Markers in Work Logs

WORK LOGS marks screenshots that need context so you can read a day at a glance.

• Trash-can marker — the employee deleted that screenshot. The image is gone, but the slot and the day note tell you how many were removed.
• Dashed border — idle time was recorded on that screenshot. Red means not approved, green means approved.
• Green background — the time was recorded inside a premium time frame.

A day with idle time also shows This log contains N minutes of idle time at the top. None of these markers are accusations — people step away from their desk, and deleting a private screenshot is allowed.

Screenshots: Deleting Your Own Screenshots

You can delete a screenshot from your own work log if it caught something private. Open WORK LOGS, pick the day, select the screenshot and delete it. The image is removed for good and cannot be recovered.

Your manager still sees that it happened. A trash-can marker stays in the slot where the picture was, and the day carries a note reading N screenshots deleted by the employee on this day. The picture is gone — the fact you deleted it is not hidden.

Deleting a screenshot does not remove the time it covered. Your tracked hours stay on the timesheet exactly as they were.

Screenshots: When Smart Blur Blurs the Whole Screen

Even on a project set to Smart Blur (AI), SCREENish sometimes blurs the whole screenshot instead of just the sensitive parts. This is automatic, you do not need to do anything, and it always errs on the safe side: whole-screen blur can never reveal more than smart blur would.

• The screen looks like a configuration or source-code file. When many credential-style labels appear on one screen (passwords, API keys, tokens, database connection strings — seven or more), these are the hardest screens to redact precisely, so the whole screen is blurred to be certain nothing leaks.
• The screen is very text-dense. A packed code editor or a long document (more than about 3,000 recognised words) holds more text than can be reliably checked, so the whole screenshot is blurred rather than risk leaving a name visible.
• The computer is low on memory. Smart Blur needs working memory to read the screen. Under memory pressure the app skips the heavier smart pass and blurs everything instead.
• Redaction is taking too long. On slower machines, if analysing a screenshot would take longer than about two minutes, a whole-screen blur ships instead so uploads never fall behind.
• The on-screen text cannot be read. If text recognition is not ready yet or fails for any reason, the app falls back to whole-screen blur so a screenshot is never uploaded without redaction.

In every case your activity stays visible — layout, colours and the general shape of the work — but no readable text is exposed. With blur enabled, SCREENish never uploads an un-blurred screenshot. To pick a mode in the first place, see Screenshots: Choosing a Privacy Blur Mode.

Securing Your Account with Two-Factor Authentication

Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) adds a second step at login: a code from an app on your phone, so a password alone is not enough to get in.

Go to EDIT PROFILE > Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) and press Enable Two-Factor Authentication.

• Step 1: Scan the QR code with an authenticator app (Google Authenticator, Authy, and similar).
• Step 2: Enter the 6-digit code the app shows and press Verify & Enable 2FA.

From then on you enter a fresh code from the app each time you log in. The panel shows an Enabled badge, and you can disable 2FA from the same place if you ever need to.

Setting Employee Hourly Rates

Go to PROJECT > Assign Projects to Employee. In the Price/hr column, enter the hourly rate for each employee. Click Save to confirm. To remove a rate, click the X button.

Setting Up Distraction Rules

With Set Distraction Rules enabled, you can add programs or websites to the distraction list.

For programs: Enter the program name (e.g., "Skype") in the Program Name field. Use * for all window titles.

For websites: Enter the site name (e.g., "Facebook") in the Program Title field and select a browser icon.

Click Save Rule, then Save Changes.

Setting Up Email Payroll Reports

Step 1: Go to Accounting.

Step 2: Select employees/projects, choose Approved/Disapproved/Both, set date range (This Week or This Month), and check Payrolls.

Step 3: Click Subscribe for Weekly Reports or Subscribe for Monthly Reports, name your report, and click OK.

Reports are sent to your registered email address.

Setting Weekly Time Limits

Go to PROJECT > Assign Projects to Employee. In the Weekly Limit column, enter the maximum hours for each employee. Click Save to confirm. To remove a limit, click the X button.

Setting Your Default Currency

Go to Projects > Assign Projects to Employee and find the currency dropdown. Search by country name or currency code (USD, EUR, etc.). Confirm your selection—the currency symbol will then appear in Accounting and Projects sections.

Note: This only changes the currency symbol displayed in reports.

Setting Your Time Zone

Your time zone controls how SCREENish dates everything you see: your Today and This Week totals, weekly limits, graphs, and — for account owners — invoices and payroll reports.

Go to EDIT PROFILE > Personal Info > Time Zone and pick your zone from the Choose Time Zone list.

Get this right before you rely on reports: if the time zone is wrong, a day's work can land on the wrong date and weekly limits can reset at the wrong hour. Automated email reports are also sent based on this setting.

Sharing Project Progress with Clients

Go to Create/Edit Projects and click Not Sharing next to a project. Enter your client's email and click Save. They'll get access to work logs and activity for that project only.

Click Make private to stop sharing at any time.

Starting Time Tracking (Employee View)

Open the SCREENish app and select an employer from the Project dropdown. If you have assigned projects, choose one from the Sub-project dropdown. Click Start tracking time to begin.

Team Huddle: Calls, Chat and Files

The desktop app and the browser extension both include team communication. While you track time for a team, your online and in-call status and your display photo are visible to that team, so people can see who is around.

• Calls — multi-party audio and video, end-to-end encrypted. They run peer-to-peer where the network allows; where a relay is needed it forwards encrypted packets only, so SCREENish cannot read the stream and never stores it. Nobody outside the call can reach it. A participant can record the conversation locally, to their own device, if they choose to.
• Screen sharing — inside a call, share your whole screen or just a single program, so you can walk the room through one app without exposing everything else.
• SCREENish in-call whiteboard — the presenter draws and the rest of the room follows along live.
• Chat — messages pass through the servers only for the moment of delivery and are kept, encrypted, on the participants' own devices. No copy is kept.
• Files — sent device to device and never touch SCREENish servers at all.

For the extension, see Chrome Extension: Team Huddle — Calls, Chat and Files.

Tracking Salaried Employees

For employees with a fixed monthly salary, you can still use hourly tracking to ensure they work the required hours.

How it works:

1. Calculate hourly rate: Monthly Salary / 160 (for 40 hours/week)
2. Set up a monthly email report in Accounting
3. In Dashboard, set the employee's monthly salary amount

Monthly reports will show the fixed salary amount. The Accounting page still shows hourly calculations for comparison.

Using Active Programs Reports

Go to Assign Project To Employee(s) > Advanced Options > Allow Programs Reports.

This tracks all applications used while time tracking runs. Reports show how long each program was active and what windows were open.

Weekly email reports include both idle time and active programs data.

Using Notes and Reminders

When you start tracking, a notes window appears. Enter a brief description of what you're working on. Set a reminder interval in the bottom-left corner to get prompted to update your notes.

Using the Idle Time Feature

Go to Assign Project To Employee(s) > Advanced Options > Allow Idle Time Reports.

When enabled, employees get an alert if there's no keyboard/mouse activity. If they don't respond within 30 seconds, time is recorded as idle until they resume activity.

You'll receive weekly email reports showing idle time and active programs for all employees.

Using the Prevent Distractions Feature

Go to Assign Project To Employee(s) > Advanced Options > Set Distraction Rules.

This feature lets you mark specific websites or programs as distractions. When enabled, employees see an alert every 2 minutes until they close the distracting app or page.

Video Presentations and Screen Sharing

Secure Communication: SCREENish uses WebRTC peer-to-peer connections—no central server stores your data. Everything stays between participants only.

Participant Limits: Peer-to-peer means each participant uses more resources. The number of people you can include depends on everyone's computer capabilities.

Viewing Active Employees

After an employee accepts your invitation and registers, they'll appear in the Active employees in your Team section of the INVITE EMPLOYEE menu.

Viewing Employee Payroll

Go to ACCOUNTING, select an employee, set your date range, and check the Payroll box to see earnings based on their hourly rate.

Note: Payroll only works if you've set an hourly rate for the employee.

Viewing Hours Spent on a Project

Go to ACCOUNTING and select a project from the All Projects dropdown. Set your date range and filter by Approved, Disapproved, or Both. You'll see a breakdown of hours worked by all employees assigned to that project.

Viewing Project Payroll

Go to ACCOUNTING, select a project from the dropdown, set your date range, and check the Payroll box. You'll see total earnings for all employees on that project.

Note: Payroll only works if you've set hourly rates for employees.

Viewing Team Workflow

The DASHBOARD shows a 7-day workflow graph. Each employee is represented by a different color. Hover over the graph to see daily hours for each team member.

Viewing Your Total Hours (Employee View)

Go to ACCOUNTING, optionally select an employer, and choose a date range. Filter by Approved, Disapproved, or Both. Use This week or This month for quick selection.

Work Logs: Camera Notices During Face Verification

When Face Recognition is on and the camera does not give a usable picture, the day shows a notice in WORK LOGS reporting how many checks were affected and when. It means the camera may not have been available — not that anyone did anything wrong.

There are plenty of ordinary reasons: another app holding the camera, a closed laptop lid, a privacy shutter left across the lens, a driver that stopped working, or simply a broken webcam. If the employee was warned about it, the notice says so.

Treat it as a prompt to check the equipment. Ask first — it is nearly always a hardware or software problem.

One notice deserves special mention: “Camera malfunction”. It appears when the camera switched on but never sent any video — typically a stuck driver, a USB power glitch, or a failing webcam. In that case the employee also sees a popup on their own screen (at most once every 30 minutes) advising them to restart the computer, and your work log shows the notice at the same time.

You don’t need a technician for this one. Send the employee our step-by-step guide: Fix the “Camera malfunction” popup on Windows. It shows how to confirm the problem in one minute with the built-in Windows Camera app and walks through the usual fixes, from a simple restart to drivers — ending with a clear answer on whether the camera needs replacing. Once the camera works again, face checks resume on their own; nothing needs to be reset in SCREENish.

Work Logs: Machine and System Info

Open the Machine & System Info panel in WORK LOGS to see the computers an employee tracks time on. Every machine running a recent version of the desktop app is listed automatically, with a green dot when it is online now.

Each card shows the operating system, the monitors and their resolution, how many screens are being captured, the CPU, the RAM and any cameras. It is useful when you are working out why screenshots look wrong, why a second screen is missing, or whether a machine can run face checks at all.

The panel is collapsed by default and is visible only to managers. Employees can always see what is collected about them in the privacy policy.