Quick answer: Windows 10 has no screen time report for your own account. On a laptop, Settings → System → Battery shows which apps used your battery. Microsoft Family Safety reports screen time, but only for a child account. To see your real screen time and top apps on any Windows 10 PC, desktop or laptop, install a free tracker such as Pulse.
Phones make this easy: one tap and you know how long you spent on them today. Windows 10 never got an equivalent. There are a few places that hint at the answer, and it helps to know what each one really measures.
What Windows 10 shows you
Battery (laptops and tablets)
On a device with a battery, open Settings → System → Battery. Windows lists the apps that used your battery recently.
That tells you which apps were busy, not how long you used them. A video call and a game drain the battery fast; a document you worked on all day barely registers. Desktop PCs don't have the page at all.
Microsoft Family Safety
If you manage a child's Microsoft account, Family Safety can report their screen time and set limits. It's built for parents, needs Microsoft accounts, and works through Microsoft's cloud. It doesn't cover your own account.
Task Manager
Task Manager → App history shows CPU time and network use for some apps. That's how hard an app worked your PC, not how long you had it open, so it doesn't answer the screen-time question.
What's missing on Windows 10
None of these answers the questions you'd actually ask:
- How long was I at my PC today, not counting the time I was away?
- Which apps took most of that time?
- Is this week better or worse than last week?
- Can I put a daily limit on the app that eats my evenings?
That's what Digital Wellbeing does on Android, and it's what a PC needs too. We explain the idea in more detail in Digital Wellbeing for PC.
See your screen time on Windows 10 with Pulse
Pulse is a free, open-source app that adds Digital Wellbeing to Windows 10 and 11. It works on desktops as well as laptops.
- Install it from the download page or the Microsoft Store. It doesn't need admin rights or an account. .NET is included, and Pulse updates itself.
- Use your PC as normal. Pulse runs in the system tray. Closing the window keeps it tracking.
- Open the dashboard. You'll see today's screen time, your top apps with their icons, and how often you switched between apps.
Pulse counts only the time you're actually there. After 5 minutes without input it stops counting, unless you're watching or listening to something, and it pauses while your PC is locked or asleep. Everything stays in a local database on your PC. There's no account, no cloud and no telemetry.
From the command line
Pulse also installs a pulse command. Open PowerShell or Command Prompt and type pulse today for today's screen time and top apps, pulse week for this week, or pulse apps for your most-used apps. See screen time from the command line.
Going further
Seeing the numbers is the first step. If you want to change them:
- App limits: give an app a daily allowance or unavailable hours. When time is up, Pulse reminds you or minimizes the app. Here's how to set app time limits.
- Focus sessions: pick a length from 15 to 90 minutes. Warn mode notifies you when you open an app you tagged as Entertainment, and Block mode minimizes it.
- Weekly insights: a daily screen-time goal with a ring on the dashboard, and a weekly report that compares this week with the last.
- Break reminders: 20-20-20 eye breaks every 15 to 60 minutes.
Common questions
Is there Digital Wellbeing for Windows 10?
Not built in. Windows 10 has battery stats on laptops and Family Safety for children's accounts, but nothing for your own screen time. Pulse adds Digital Wellbeing to Windows 10 for free.
How do I check screen time on a Windows 10 desktop?
Desktops have no Battery page, so Windows shows nothing useful. Install Pulse and it starts counting your active time and top apps from the first day.
Can I set app time limits on Windows 10?
Only for a child account, through Microsoft Family Safety. For your own account, Pulse can give any app a daily allowance or unavailable hours.
Does Pulse work on Windows 11 too?
Yes. Pulse works the same on Windows 10 and Windows 11. If you're on Windows 11, see how to check screen time on Windows 11 for the built-in options there.
Built into Pulse
Track screen time, focus and breaks on Windows. Free, open source, no account.