Mac app

Clockify Desktop app for Mac is a native OSX application that enables you to track time right from your desktop, without having to open Clockify in a browser.

Download Clockify for Mac →
Supports Mac OS 10.12 and higher

You can also download Clockify for Mac on the App Store. However, due to changes in the App Store’s policy, that version won’t have the Idle Detection and Autotracker features.

Log in #

To use Clockify Desktop app for Mac, you first have to log in to your Clockify account:

Enter email and password of your Clockify account
Tap Continue with Google if you’ve associated your Clockify account with your Google account

If you don’t have a Clockify account yet, you can create it by clicking the Sign up button.

Self-hosted users (Server plan) using a custom domain or users on Enterprise and Pro plan with a subdomain can also use the Mac desktop app.

To sign in, open the app and find the Custom domain login or Subdomain login link at the bottom of the app’s screen.
If you’re logging in with a custom domain, choose your regional server address. For example, for the EU region https://euc1.clockify.me, it could be https://euc1.acme.me.
If you’re logging in with a subdomain, enter subdomain name in the field (e.g. https://acme.clockify.me).
Click Submit and log in with your email and password, or SSO.

You can use the Apple login to sign up and log in to Clockify desktop app for Mac and you will be assigned an email with an Apple ID.

And if you want to log in to the web app, you first need to set the password in the app’s Settings.

Since the web browser version does not support Apple login, make sure to use the Apple ID you were assigned to and the password you set to log in to the web app.

Note: Apple login on Mac is only available if you downloaded our app from the AppStore.

Tracking time using a timer #

The main purpose of the desktop app is to make time tracking faster and more convenient.

To start tracking time:

Describe what you’re working on in the What are you working on? field
Start the timer by clicking the blue play button
After you’re finished, click the red stop button and the time entry will be added to your list
You can add a project, task, tags, and billability status to the time entry when you edit it in the popup window

You can also start the timer without the description, and then fill in the details later.

Manual time entry #

In addition to using the timer, you can also add time entries for past work manually:

Click the icon with three lines (it’s next to the play button and beneath the clock icon) to enter manual mode
Click the blue plus icon
A popup window appears where you can enter start and end time, as well as all other details

Note that the time format on the Mac desktop app is related to the time format settings set in your Clockify Profile settings on the web version. For example, if you set your time settings to 24h format on the web, the desktop app will show hours in the same format as well.

Autocomplete

There’s an autocomplete option available when you click on an entry and start typing a description or when you click on the down arrow ( v ).

Tracking breaks #

Use the break timer to track your breaks and have an overview of your and your team’s overall productivity.
The break timer is available on all paid plans regardless of the user role. You only need to have a Break mode enabled in the workspace settings.

To track your breaks:

Go to the Time tracker
Choose Break mode from the settings at the top right corner
When you enter the Break mode, the entry is marked with a break icon

Break entry is tracked as any other time entry. Click on the play/stop button to start/stop the timer.

Each break entry contains entry’s description, project/task set in the workspace settings (if there is one), start, duration and end time and optionally billability, tags or custom fields.

Pomodoro timer #

If the Pomodoro timer is enabled, after the Pomodoro timer is started, the break starts as well. If the break is not enabled, then the Pomodoro is started as any regular time entry.

Offline mode #

Break entry can also be started in the offline mode.

Editing a time entry #

Click on an existing time entry in the list
A pop-up appears where you can edit all the data you want
Click Save to save changes

Deleting a time entry #

To delete a time entry, swipe left or right to show the delete option.

Continuing a time entry #

If you’ve already worked on some task, you can start a new timer for it with one click.

Simply find the time entry you wish to continue tracking time for and click the blue play button next to it. All the data of that time entry will be duplicated, and the time will start ticking again.

Time entry list #

The time entry list shows you your most recent time entries. The list is organized by days, and each day contains the time entries you’ve made that day.

Each time entry shows the project, description, duration with tags and billability status (if any).
Note that the duration format on the Mac desktop app depends on the duration format set in the Clockify workspace settings on the web version. For example, if you set the duration format to decimal on the web (e.g. 4.00), the desktop app will display the duration of tracker time in the same format, as well.

Auto tracker #

See how much time you spend across programs and create timesheets based on your activity.

Auto tracker is not available if you’ve installed Clockify through the App Store due to store’s terms and conditions. If you need auto tracker, you’ll have to download and install the version from our website.

Enabling auto tracker: Open the app and click on the Auto Tracker icon in the upper left corner.

To set after how long you want your activity to be tracked, click on the Auto tracker and then set it up through the Auto tracker settings.

Auto tracker will track websites and programs that you view for more than 10 seconds (apps you use for less than that won’t show up). You can override this in the Auto tracker’s settings.
If your computer goes to sleep, auto tracker will stop recording.
All of your data tracked with auto-tracker is private and only you can see it. Data is not available on other devices. Other workspace users (including admins) do not have access to it.
Data will be visible to other users in your workspace only after you add it as an entry from the auto tracker table.
Data is stored for 45 days and then deleted from the computer (there are no backups).
Auto tracker will allow a gap delay of up to 10 seconds before it considers you’ve changed apps
Idle column shows percentage of how much time you’ve been active vs inactive (no mouse or keyboard movement). Idle detection starts after 20 minutes of inactivity.
You will also be able to see a timeline that visually shows time logs that are at least 10 min long.

To allow auto tracker to track which websites you visit and for how long, you need to:

Go to System Preferences -> Privacy -> Automation and give Clockify Desktop app permissions to control Chrome, Firefox, and Safari.
Allow Clockify access to Chrome, Firefox, and Safari when they ask

In the Auto Tracker you can see the list of all the programs it detected, description of websites visited or open documents, start/end of the activity, total duration of the activity, and percentage of idle time.

Adding recorded activities to Clockify #

To add items from auto tracker to your Clockify account as time entries:

Click on the + sign, under the Add as entry column.
Add more details (e.g. assign it to a project or change description)
Click Save to create an entry in Clockify

You can also select and add multiple entries by checking the box at the header of the table. The following actions are available:

Add selected – each item is added as a separate time entry in Clockify (you can add project/task/tag, but each entry retains its original description)
Merge selected – all selected items are added as one time entry in Clockify (each description is added, start time is taken from the earliest record, and all durations are summarized and used to calculate end time)
Delete selected – items are forever cleared from the activity table

If you don’t wish to see items you’ve already added to Clockify, you can check Hide added items in the upper right corner.

Creating a new project, task or tag #

You can quickly create a new project in the Time Entry Details popup window, by clicking Create new project; then you can add the project name, the name of the client, and choose the project color.

After you add the project, you can then add a new task. When you click Create new task, a new input field appears, where you can enter the name of the task, estimate, and choose an assignee.

You can add tags in the Time Entry Details popup window, by clicking Create new tag.

Don’t forget to click Save to save the added project/task/tag.

Note: Regular (non-admin) team members aren’t able to create clients, projects, and tags if they are not granted these permissions. To give them such permissions, you will need to log in via Web browser and set Who can create projects and clients and Who can create tags to Anyone in the Workspace settings.

Settings #

The settings are located in the top right corner.
There you can:

Change the workspace
Go to reports in the web version
Manage projects in the web version
Adjust preferences (where you can add reminders)
Visit Help articles
Log out

Preferences #

In your Clockify MacOS desktop preferences, you can choose:

To show the app hotkey
Hide in dock
Show timer and/or project in Status bar
Select theme (Light or Dark)
Set default project
Set a custom global shortcut
Set reminders
Change timer settings
Set Autotracker settings
Show project color in Status bar

Reminders #

You can tell Clockify to send you reminders to track time at regular time intervals.

Simply check the Remind to track time box, specify the interval (e.g. 10 minutes), and Clockify will show you a notification every 10 minutes, reminding you to use the timer.

You can start the timer directly from the notification by clicking Start timer in the notification.

You can also set reminder start and end time, during which time the reminder will appear (e.g. from 08:00 to 16:00). Outside of those times, the reminder notifications won’t appear.

You can also set days for which you want to enable/disable reminders. If you don’t want to receive reminders on Sundays for example, leave it unchecked.

You can set reminders by clicking the Settings icon and going to Preferences > Reminder tab.

Detect idle time #

While tracking time, Clockify Desktop app can detect when you’re away from your computer so you don’t accidentally log that time. The app detects when you’re inactive based on your mouse movements.

(Note: if you’ve downloaded Clockify for Mac from the App Store, idle detection is not available. You can download the version with idle detection here.)

You can enable more precise detection (which takes into account keyboard activity too):

Go to your Mac’s System Preferences > Security & Privacy > Privacy tab
In Accessibility section, add Clockify Desktop app (you can drag&drop it there from your Applications folder)
Restart the app

If you set the detection interval to 10 minutes, after 10 minutes of no mouse activity, the app will ask you whether you want to include those previous 10 minutes (plus how long the timer was running after that) in your timesheet.

You have four options:

Discard idle time: Discards idle time, and stops the running timer from when you went idle
Discard idle and continue: Discards the idle time, and starts a new timer for the same activity
Keep idle time: Ignores idle time, and adds it to the currently running time entry
Add idle time as new time entry: Stops the timer, and adds idle time as a new time entry

Auto-stop and start timer #

If you sometimes forget to stop the timer when you go on a break or are finished working, Mac desktop app can stop the running timer for you.

Mac app can also start the timer for you when you come back to work later so you don’t have to worry about managing timers.

In Preferences > Timer, you can choose in which cases Clockify should automatically start and/or stop the timer:

When Mac goes to sleep, powers off, or when you close the lid (screen lock)
When Mac wakes up, unlocks, or when app starts

Pomodoro Timer #

With the Pomodoro Timer, you can set up notifications that will let you know when it’s time to take a break.

Clockify Desktop app will send you a notification when you reach the end of your current Pomodoro interval to let you know you should take a break.

After the break, you can continue tracking time on the latest task by clicking on that entry’s play icon, or start a brand new timer.

You can set just the Pomodoro Timer (when to stop the timer and give you a notification), and you can also set breaks.

When Pomodoro break is enabled, and you reach the end of your Pomodoro time, Clockify will let you know with a notification to stop the timer for the current task. After that, a new timer starts, with the description “Pomodoro break”. After it ends, the timer will stop, and you can start a new timer for anything you want.

You can start the timer for break directly from the notification by clicking Start break in the notification.

You can enable Pomodoro Timer and set your preferred Pomodoro and break intervals in Preferences > Timer tab.

Default project #

If you work on the same project every day, set a default project. Then, all you have to do is type what you’re working on and start the timer, and the project will be selected automatically.

You can select:

Fixed project, which will be always used when you start a timer for an entry without a project (until you change the default project)
Last used project, and timer will pick up the most recently used available project from your list of time entries

You can enable default project in the app’s Settings > General tab.

Screenshots #

Mac desktop app has an integrated screenshot feature. After screenshots are enabled in the workspace settings by Admin users will be notified that screenshot capturing is activated.

Keyboard shortcuts #

When you’re focused on the Clockify window, you can use a keyboard shortcut to quickly perform some action:

Cmd+S – Start the timer
Cmd+T – Stop the timer
Cmd+N – Enter manual time entry mode
Cmd+D – Discard the timer
Cmd+Y – Sync data
Cmd+L – Log out

You can also define your own custom global shortcut for start/stop timer and hide/show app in Settings > Preferences > General.

Offline support #

You can track time in Clockify on your Mac even offline.

You can regularly create time entries manually or start/stop the timer, and newly created time entries will be saved locally on your computer. When you get back online, the app will automatically sync all time entries.

When you’re offline, you will only be able to see information loaded while you were online (time entries, projects, tasks, tags, etc.). So projects, tasks, and tags are available for selection if they were loaded before you went offline.

It’s not possible to create new projects, tasks, tags, and clients while offline.

The app stores data locally, and syncs with the web version once you’re online again. If you want, you can also perform a manual sync by clicking the refresh icon.

If you are using the app in the offline mode, please make sure you’ve synced your time entries with the cloud prior to logging out. If you fail to do that, all the data that is not synced at the moment of logging out, will be lost.

Open Clockify on system startup #

If you use Clockify every day you can set it up so it starts automatically on startup. To enable this:

Go to System preferences > Users and Groups
Open Login items tab
Add the desired app to the list

To open the app on the same page it was when you closed it just leave the Close windows when quitting an app unchecked. To do this go to System preferences > General.

If you forget to manually start the timer, Clockify can automatically start the timer for you when your Mac is unlocked, awakes, or is booted. Or, if you forget to manually stop the timer, Clockify can automatically stop the timer for you when your Mac is locked, goes to sleep, or is shut down. Auto-start and stop can be enabled in Preferences > Timer.

Change language #

By default, app will be displayed on your operating system’s language (if Clockify supports that language).

To use Clockify in a language that’s different from your operating system’s:

Go to System Preferences
Select Language & Region
Go to App tab
Add Clockify
Select language

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