FAQ
Everything you need to know about TheDeskMonitor — from getting started to privacy, pricing, and AI voice features.
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Yes — every new account starts with a 14-day free trial that includes all features with no credit card required. You can invite up to 10 team members during the trial and explore the full platform including time tracking, screenshots, reports, and the mobile app. After 14 days your account automatically moves to the free Community plan, or you can upgrade to any paid plan. View all plans →
Go to thedeskmonitor.com and click Start Free Trial. Enter your work email, choose a password, and your company account is ready in under 60 seconds. Next, invite teammates from the Team page, then have each person download the DeskAgent desktop client (Windows) or install the Android mobile app. First clock-in typically takes under 5 minutes.
Most teams are fully set up within one business day. The admin portal takes about 15 minutes to configure departments and roles. DeskAgent installs silently in about 3 minutes per machine and can be mass-deployed via Group Policy or MDM. The Android mobile app is available as a direct APK download at /download or on Google Play. iOS App Store listing is coming soon. Our Help Center walk-through covers the full onboarding sequence.
TheDeskMonitor offers a free Community plan (up to 3 users) and four paid plans: Starter, Professional, Business, and Enterprise. Starter covers time tracking, attendance, and screenshots. Professional adds productivity scoring, payroll, Smart Blur, and well-being analytics. Business adds live screen view, zone compliance, and 1-year retention. Enterprise adds custom integrations and a dedicated success manager (Contact Sales). See current rates →
TheDeskMonitor uses Paddle as its payment processor, which accepts all major credit cards (Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover), PayPal, Apple Pay, and local payment methods in many countries. Paddle also handles VAT/GST collection automatically for your region, so there are no surprise tax bills.
Yes. You can cancel at any time from the Billing page in your account settings. Cancellation takes effect immediately — your account is downgraded to the free Community plan right away. There are no early-termination fees. See our Refund Policy for refund eligibility details.
After cancellation, your data is retained for 30 days so you can export it via the GDPR export tool. After 30 days, all personal data is permanently deleted per our retention policy. You can request immediate deletion at any time by contacting support. See our Privacy Policy for the full data lifecycle.
Yes. Upgrades take effect immediately and you are charged a prorated amount for the remainder of your billing cycle. Downgrades take effect at the start of your next billing cycle so you retain the higher-tier features until then. Visit Billing > Change Plan in your account to make changes instantly.
Yes. TheDeskMonitor is fully GDPR compliant and handles multi-jurisdiction teams automatically through two complementary layers:
Layer 1 — Zone Compliance (automatic): TheDeskMonitor detects each employee's jurisdiction from IP and GPS and applies the correct regulatory framework automatically — EU GDPR, UK GDPR, CCPA (California), AU Privacy Act. Screenshot frequency, data retention windows, and consent notices adjust per person, per jurisdiction with zero admin configuration.
Layer 2 — Per-user admin flags (manual control): admins can also fine-tune privacy settings per employee from Settings → Tenancy Settings → DeskAgent & Monitoring:
| Flag | What it controls |
|---|---|
agent.screenshots_enabled | Enable or disable screenshots for this employee |
agent.smart_blur_enabled | Auto-redact PII in screenshots on-device before upload |
agent.privacy_mode | Give employee a Pause Monitoring button |
agent.screenshot_interval_minutes | Override capture frequency (reduce only — privacy-protective) |
agent.require_active_task_for_capture | Screenshot only while a task is selected |
agent.zone_restriction | Manual zone restriction override |
security.data_retention_override | Shorter retention window for this user |
security.2fa_required | Enforce 2FA for this user |
We act as a data processor and provide a Data Processing Agreement (DPA). Employees can request a full data export or deletion via Settings → Compliance & Data. Data is stored in EU-region infrastructure.
No. TheDeskMonitor does not record keystrokes, read clipboard content, or intercept personal communications. It tracks active application usage (which app window has focus and for how long), clock-in/clock-out times, optional periodic screenshots, and GPS location for field workers. Everything captured is clearly disclosed to employees and configurable by the employer.
That depends on how your employer has configured the platform. By default, TheDeskMonitor logs active application or browser window titles when focus is on a browser. Employers can configure categories so personal browsing is marked as personal and excluded from productivity scoring. DeskAgent can also be paused manually during breaks. Your employer controls these settings — ask your manager or HR team for your company's policy.
Yes. Under GDPR and most employment laws, employees must be informed about monitoring before it begins. TheDeskMonitor displays a clear notification to employees on first launch of DeskAgent. We recommend employers also provide a written monitoring policy. The platform is designed for transparent, consensual monitoring — not covert surveillance. Read more about employee rights →
Yes. Screenshots are completely optional. Go to Settings > Screenshot Policy and set the capture frequency to 'Off' for any department or the whole company. Other features — time tracking, attendance, productivity scoring, payroll, and reports — continue to work normally without screenshots.
Yes. TheDeskMonitor supports email OTP-based 2FA for all accounts. Admins can enforce 2FA organisation-wide from Security Settings > Require 2FA. When 2FA is enabled, each login triggers a one-time code sent to the user's registered email address. Staff portal access uses 2FA by default for all staff roles.
Yes — using the Model Context Protocol (MCP). TheDeskMonitor exposes a clock_in MCP write tool that any MCP-compatible AI assistant can call — works with Claude Desktop, Microsoft Copilot, Gemini CLI, and ChatGPT with MCP.
Setup (3 steps):
mcp:read + mcp:write scopes → copy the dm_live_* keyhttps://api.thedeskmonitor.com/api/mcp/v1 · Auth: Bearer token → paste your keyclock_in and TheDeskMonitor creates your attendance record immediatelyClock out: "Clock me out" or "End my shift." Works on any device where your AI client runs — desktop, browser, or mobile.
Note: Demo keys (dm_demo_*) are read-only — only a user-scoped dm_live_* key with mcp:write triggers clock-in.
Yes. With iOS 16 or later, you can use Siri to clock in, clock out, check your hours, and start breaks hands-free. On devices with Apple Intelligence (iPhone 15 Pro and later running iOS 18+), Siri can answer contextual questions like "How many hours have I worked this week?" using your TheDeskMonitor data. Full Apple Intelligence integration is in active development. The primary AI integration path is MCP — see the question above for setup.
Yes. The TheDeskMonitor Android app exposes App Actions to Google Assistant, so you can say "Hey Google, clock me in with TheDeskMonitor," "Hey Google, start my break in TheDeskMonitor," or "Hey Google, clock me out." The feature requires the TheDeskMonitor app to be installed and the Google Assistant integration to be enabled in app settings. For the most flexible AI clock-in (any AI client, any device), use the MCP clock_in write tool — see the question above.
TheDeskMonitor provides a live MCP server at https://api.thedeskmonitor.com/api/mcp/v1 with 24 tools across read and write operations.
Write tools (require user-scoped dm_live_* key + mcp:write):
clock_in — create an attendance recordclock_out — close an attendance recordinvite_staff — send a team member invitation emailCompatible AI clients: Claude Desktop · Microsoft Copilot · Gemini CLI · Cursor · ChatGPT with MCP
Plans: Starter, Professional, Business, Enterprise. Community (free) plan does not include MCP. Demo keys (dm_demo_*) are read-only.
Aria is TheDeskMonitor's built-in AI assistant — it lives inside the dashboard and answers workforce questions (who is clocked in, team hours, payroll cost) using natural language right in the app. No setup needed. MCP (Model Context Protocol) is the open standard that lets your own AI client — Claude Desktop, Copilot, Gemini, Cursor — connect to TheDeskMonitor's live data from outside the app, and also write to it via write tools like clock_in. Both are available on Starter and above. The Community (free) plan does not include either.
The TheDeskMonitor Android app is now available on Google Play (Android 10 or later). You can also download the APK directly from /download for sideloading on managed devices or regions where Google Play is unavailable. Enable "Install from unknown sources" in your device settings if prompted. Location permission is required for GPS check-in.
The TheDeskMonitor iOS app is coming soon to the App Store. In the meantime, iPhone users can access all time tracking, attendance, and reporting features via the web portal at thedeskmonitor.com using Safari or any browser.
No — the mobile app is designed for minimal battery impact. GPS tracking uses significant-location-change mode (not continuous GPS), which typically adds less than 3% battery drain per shift. The app does not run background processes when you are clocked out. Background app refresh can be disabled in device settings without affecting clock-in functionality.
Yes. If you clock in or out while offline, the event is stored locally and automatically synced the next time your device has connectivity. GPS coordinates are stamped at the moment of the action — not at sync time — so your location data remains accurate even after reconnecting.
Download the installer from thedeskmonitor.com/download, run it, and sign in with your work email. DeskAgent runs silently in the system tray and starts automatically on login. For mass deployment, the MSI package supports Group Policy or SCCM. The client requires Windows 10 version 1903 or later.
macOS DeskAgent is coming soon. Check thedeskmonitor.com/download for current platform availability. Windows users can download and install now.
DeskAgent captures: (1) active application name and window title — to categorise productive vs idle time; (2) idle periods — mouse/keyboard inactivity for a configurable threshold; (3) optional periodic screenshots at a frequency set by your employer (can be disabled). It does NOT capture: keystrokes, clipboard content, passwords, personal files, emails, or microphone audio.
On Windows: go to Settings > Apps, find 'DeskAgent', click Uninstall. On macOS: drag DeskAgent from Applications to Trash, then revoke Screen Recording permission in System Settings > Privacy & Security. Once uninstalled, tracking stops immediately. Note: historical data already synced to the server is retained per your employer's data retention policy.
You can clock in four ways:
clock_in MCP write tool (requires a user-scoped dm_live_* API key with mcp:write scope)All four methods sync in real time. Your manager sees the clock-in timestamp and GPS location (if enabled) immediately. DeskAgent also captures your app activity automatically while you are clocked in — you do not need to start any additional timer.
Yes. Employees can submit a timesheet correction request from Attendance > Corrections. The request goes to the employee's direct manager for approval. Managers can also edit timesheets directly. All edits are logged in the Audit Trail with the before/after values and who made the change, maintaining a full tamper-evident record.
Yes. Use the Break button in the web portal, mobile app, or DeskAgent tray to start and end breaks. Break time is excluded from payable hours by default — your employer can configure whether short breaks below a threshold (e.g., 15 minutes) count as work time. Managers see break patterns in the attendance detail report.
Yes — both modes work simultaneously and are designed to complement each other.
Automatic (DeskAgent): DeskAgent silently records which application is in the foreground, in 10-minute UTC-aligned snapshots, while you are clocked in. No timers, no manual start/stop needed — it happens in the background.
Manual entries: Employees can add manual time entries for work done away from their computer (client meetings, travel, phone calls). Go to Timesheets → select the week → + Add Entry → select project, task, date, start/end time → Save. The entry is submitted alongside auto-captured entries for manager approval.
Important overlap rule: If DeskAgent already captured a slot, remove that auto-captured entry before adding a manual one for the same period to avoid double-counting. Approved entries and prior pay-cycle entries cannot be removed.
TheDeskMonitor is not a timer-start tool. You do not press "Start" to begin counting time on each task the way you would in a manual time-tracker.
Instead, the DeskAgent desktop client captures work automatically in the background while you are clocked in: it records which application or website is in focus, for how long, in 10-minute snapshots — without any manual input. You clock in once at the start of your shift and clock out at the end. Everything in between is captured automatically.
Employees do also select a current task in DeskAgent (to tag work to the right project), and they can add manual entries for off-computer work — but the core time capture is entirely automatic.
What this means for your team: managers see exactly how time was spent without requiring employees to remember to start and stop timers. Timesheets are built from objective, continuous data — not from memory at the end of the week.
TheDeskMonitor includes: Daily Attendance Summary, Weekly Timesheet, Productivity Score Report, Well-Being Analysis, Application Usage Breakdown, Screenshot Gallery, Payroll Export (CSV/PDF), Anomaly Detection Alert, Custom Date Range Report, and Department Comparison Report. All reports are filterable by employee, department, date range, and project. Enterprise plans add scheduled email delivery of reports.
The productivity score is calculated per employee per day as a weighted average of time spent in productive applications, divided by total tracked time. Categories are fully customisable — for example, a designer's score would weight Figma and Photoshop as productive, while an accountant's score would weight Excel and QuickBooks. Scores range from 0–100 and are never shared externally.
The well-being score combines three signals: (1) total working hours per day — flagging overwork above a configurable threshold; (2) break frequency — whether the employee takes sufficient breaks; (3) after-hours activity — work logged outside their contracted schedule. The score highlights burnout risk to managers before it becomes a retention problem, not to penalise employees.
The anomaly detection engine flags unusual patterns relative to each employee's own historical baseline — for example, a normally-high-productivity employee with a sudden 40% drop, or an employee who never works after 6pm suddenly clocking hours at midnight. Alerts appear in the manager dashboard and can trigger email notifications. Anomalies are context clues, not automatic disciplinary records.
Go to Team > Invite Members, enter email addresses (or paste a comma-separated list), select the role (Employee, Manager, or Admin), choose the department, and click Send Invites. Each person receives an email with a personal registration link valid for 7 days. You can resend invitations from the Pending Invites tab.
TheDeskMonitor has four roles: Employee (clock in/out, view own data and schedule); Manager (everything Employee can do, plus approve timesheets for their department and view team reports); Admin (everything Manager can do, plus configure company settings, billing, and all departments); Super Admin (full platform access including staff portal and audit logs).
Yes. Create departments from Settings > Departments — each department has a name, an optional code, and an assigned manager. Employees belong to exactly one department. Reports and productivity comparisons can be filtered by department. Managers automatically see only their department's data unless granted cross-department access by an Admin.
Each department has a primary manager set in Settings > Departments > Edit. Employees inherit that manager for timesheet approval. For cross-department or senior-manager scenarios, you can assign an employee a Manager role across multiple departments from Team > Members > Edit Permissions.
TheDeskMonitor supports a two-level approval workflow. The direct manager approves first, then an optional department head or HR reviewer does secondary approval. Both approvals are recorded with timestamps in the audit log. Once fully approved, the timesheet locks and feeds into the payroll export. This dual-approval pattern is common in ISO-certified payroll processes.
Admin users can run a full data export from Settings > GDPR > Export Data. The export includes all employee records, attendance logs, screenshots (as a ZIP), audit trails, and consent records in machine-readable JSON and CSV formats. Individual employees can request their personal data export through the employee portal. Exports are ready within 30 minutes for most accounts.
Monitoring data retention depends on your subscription plan: Community and Starter plans retain screenshots, activity logs, and time logs for 60 days; Professional for 90 days; Business for 1 year; Enterprise plans have unlimited retention (no automated purge). All data is permanently deleted after the applicable retention period ends. On account cancellation, data is retained for 30 days so you can export it, then permanently deleted. See our Privacy Policy for the full data lifecycle.
Data is stored in EU-region data centres. All data is encrypted at rest (AES-256) and in transit (TLS 1.2+). Backups are encrypted and stored in a geographically separate region. Screenshots are stored in object storage with per-tenant encryption keys that are rotated annually.
Yes. Every write action in TheDeskMonitor — timesheet edits, role changes, setting changes, data exports, and login events — is recorded in the immutable Audit Trail (Admin > Audit Log). Each entry shows the actor, action, before/after values, IP address, and timestamp. Audit logs are retained for 3 years and exportable to CSV for ISO 27001 or SOC 2 evidence packages.
Current integrations: Paddle (billing and payments), Google Assistant (voice clock-in on Android), Siri / App Intents (voice clock-in on iOS), MCP (Model Context Protocol — AI assistant integration, available on Starter and above plans). Planned: Slack / Microsoft Teams notifications, QuickBooks payroll export, open Webhook API. See setup guide →
Both platforms offer time tracking and screenshot monitoring, but TheDeskMonitor differentiates on: AI voice integration (Siri / Google Assistant clock-in), built-in well-being analytics, transparent employee-first design, and simpler onboarding with no hardware token requirements. TheDeskMonitor pricing is also competitive for small-to-medium teams. Full side-by-side comparison →
Yes. TheDeskMonitor offers a Partner Program with three tiers: Referral Partner (earn recurring commissions on active subscriptions you refer), Reseller / VAR (white-label and resell under your own brand with volume discounts), and Technology Partner (build REST API integrations and get listed in the integration directory). Learn more about the partner program →
Visit thedeskmonitor.com/partners and complete the partnership application form. Select the tier that best fits your business model — Referral, Reseller/VAR, or Technology Partner. Our partnership team responds within 2 business days and will match you to the right tier and provide onboarding materials.
First, confirm your email matches the invitation you received (work email addresses only — personal Gmail/Outlook accounts are not accepted). Click Forgot Password on the login page to reset your credentials. If you enabled 2FA and aren't receiving the OTP email, check your spam folder. If you still can't access your account, contact your company Admin — they can reset your login from Team > Members.
Check your internet connection first. On mobile, ensure background app refresh is enabled and the app has network permission. On desktop, confirm DeskAgent is running in the system tray (look for the green icon). If DeskAgent shows 'Offline,' it will sync automatically when connection is restored. If data is missing after more than 1 hour online, contact support with your sync timestamp.
Use the Contact page or email support@thedeskmonitor.com. Response SLA is 24 hours for Starter plans and 4 hours for Professional and Enterprise plans. For urgent billing issues, include 'URGENT: Billing' in the subject line. Enterprise customers also have access to a dedicated success manager via a private Slack channel.
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