See top time-consuming apps
Identify which apps dominate your day so you can make better time decisions. Win32, UWP, and PWAs — all tracked together.
App Usage Tracker · Windows
Track app usage on Windows with practical focus insights
Deskly helps you see exactly where app time goes during work and study. Instead of guessing, you get clear visibility into your most-used tools and distraction patterns.
Reduce costly context switching
Spot constant app hopping and create healthier focus windows. Reports show you the pattern, limits help you break it.
Set app limits that matter
Use daily time caps to avoid mindless overuse and protect productive sessions without hard blocking.
Review trends over time
Daily and weekly insights help you sustain improvements, not just one-day fixes. Up to 5 years of history stored locally.
How Deskly tracks app usage
- Polls the foreground window every second using Windows UI Automation — no kernel driver or admin rights needed.
- Sub-second accumulator ensures zero time is lost when you switch between apps quickly.
- Data is written to a local JSON file in a folder you choose — readable, portable, and completely yours.
- Top 15 apps shown per day, week, month, and year in the Reports view.
Per-app data beats a single screen time number
A total screen time figure tells you almost nothing about where the time actually went. Per-app tracking answers the follow-up questions that matter: which single app ate the afternoon, whether a "quick check" of chat or social media is really five minutes or fifty, and whether your top app changes on weekends versus workdays.
Deskly pairs this per-app view with the screen time timeline, so you can see not just which apps ranked highest today, but the exact order and duration of every session between them.
Why people track app usage on Windows
Freelancers and consultants
Get an honest, private record of which tools actually filled billable hours — without a corporate time-tracking suite watching every click.
Gamers managing playtime
See real per-game hours across a week or month, and set an app limit if one title is quietly taking over.
Students juggling coursework apps
Compare time in note-taking, research, and study tools against messaging and entertainment apps side by side.
Anyone who says "I don't even use that app much"
Replace assumptions with actual numbers — app usage tracking regularly surprises people about where their time really goes.
Frequently asked questions
How does Deskly measure time per app?
Deskly polls the foreground window every second using Windows UI Automation and accumulates time at sub-second precision, so no time is lost during quick app switches.
Does it track UWP apps and PWAs, not just traditional Win32 programs?
Yes. Win32 desktop apps, UWP Store apps, and installed PWAs are all tracked together in the same reports.
Can I see which apps cause the most context switching?
Yes. Reports highlight switch counts alongside total time, so you can tell apart an app you use for one long session versus one you keep flicking back to.
How many apps show up in the reports?
The top 15 apps are shown per day, week, month, and year, with the option to drill into any single app's history.
Is admin access required to track app usage?
No. Deskly does not require a kernel driver or administrator rights to track foreground app usage.