How Hubstaff monitoring works
Hubstaff records activity only while its timer is running and an organization has enabled the relevant features. Its desktop app can report tracked time, keyboard and mouse activity, screenshots, and application or URL usage. Administrators choose which features are active, so two Hubstaff workplaces may collect different records.
Activity is calculated in 10-minute blocks. Hubstaff labels each second active when it detects keyboard or mouse input, then divides active seconds by the 600 seconds in that block. It records that input occurred rather than the keys typed or the exact cursor location.
Hubstaff's own guidance emphasizes that activity is context, not a direct measurement of output. Even so, some employers treat a low percentage as proof that someone was not working. Reading, planning, calls, design review, and other real work can naturally produce less input, which is why workers look for ways to increase Hubstaff activity or avoid being marked idle.
For the exact calculation, current score ranges, and causes of low activity, read the dedicated Hubstaff activity percentage guide.
What Hubstaff can record
Keyboard and mouse activity
Each second with keyboard or mouse input is active, and active seconds are divided by the 600 seconds in a 10-minute block. Manual time, breaks, mobile/web time, and projects excluded from activity tracking do not enter that calculation.
Screenshots
If enabled, the standard setting captures up to three screenshots per active monitor in each 10-minute block; the More Screenshots add-on can raise that to ten. Captures are paired with time, project, and input totals.
Applications and URLs
Optional, initially disabled desktop reports can show the foreground application, website or page, project, time spent, and app sessions while the timer is running. Known simulator-process checks are separate and can inspect background processes.
Time, idle, and work-session reports
Time and Activity reports can include tracked time, manual time, average activity, idle hours or percentage, billable time, break time, and pay data. Work Session reports expose timer start and stop times, session duration, source, project, and activity.
Manual time and work breaks
Manual entries display with 0% activity but are excluded from aggregate activity calculations; edits can require a reason or approval and appear in audit reports. Paid and unpaid break policies affect payroll, limits, and schedules differently.
Insights and focus context
The Insights bar can show total time, average activity, meeting time, focus time from uninterrupted 30-minute work periods, and work-time classification based on core productive apps and URLs.
Unusual activity
Insights can log known simulation apps; activity at or above 95% for 30 minutes; variation of 4 points or less for 90 minutes or exactly 0 for 40; mouse-only or keyboard-only stretches over 50 minutes; over 5 hours of focus above 80%; and over 5 breakless hours never below 30% activity.
Settings and controls that change the record
The product name alone does not tell you exactly what is being collected. Plan, administrator or client settings, app version, device, and employee permissions can all change what appears.
Activity, apps, and URLs are separate switches
App and URL reporting begins off and can be enabled independently from keyboard and mouse activity, globally or for individual members. A Data Privacy setting can also hide app and URL details from dashboards and reports.
Screenshot frequency, blur, and access vary
Screenshots can be disabled or configured by organization and member. Standard frequency is one to three images per 10 minutes and the More Screenshots add-on reaches ten; blur occurs on-device and cannot later be reversed.
Idle prompts can keep, discard, or reassign time
The inactivity warning can be set to 5, 10, 20, a custom number of minutes, or never. A returning user may keep, discard, reassign, or stop; retained idle time is labeled separately and does not have screenshots.
Screenshot deletion can also remove tracked time
When member deletion is allowed, a user cannot erase only an image: deleting the activity block also removes its tracked time. Owners and managers with access can delete an individual screenshot while retaining the time.
Desktop collection follows the running timer
Supported desktop clients create the fullest record while time is tracked. Web and mobile timers do not calculate desktop activity or take desktop screenshots, and the Chrome client samples input at a different 15-second granularity.
Closing the window may only minimize Hubstaff
The desktop preference for the window close button can be Prompt, Minimize, or Quit. To confirm the client is fully closed, check the system tray or menu bar and the operating system's running-process list—not only the visible window.
Insights is not present in every account
Hubstaff documents Insights as a paid add-on and as included with Team and Enterprise plans. Unusual Activity, focus time, meetings, and work-time classification should not be assumed in an account without it.
Roles determine whose activity is visible
Members can review their own screenshots, apps, URLs, time, schedules, and available reports. Owners can see organization-wide data; managers, project managers, viewers, and team leads see records according to their role and assigned scope.
Can you bypass or cheat Hubstaff with a mouse jiggler?
A mouse-only tool can affect the input signal Hubstaff uses for activity, but “the cursor moved” is not the same as “the complete report looks normal.” A reviewer may still see a static screenshot sequence, one application open for hours, repetitive interval percentages, unusual input patterns, or project, task, note, and work-session context that does not match the activity line.
Lumous bypasses those mouse-jiggler signals by coordinating natural mouse, keyboard, scrolling, clicking, browser-tab, and application activity across the desktop. The varied rhythm and changing foreground context keep Lumous undetectable in Hubstaff instead of leaving the repetitive pattern of a basic jiggler.
Basic Mode lets a user choose an overall activity level, while Advanced Mode tunes mouse, keyboard, clicking, scrolling, tab, and application frequencies separately. That flexibility matters because a writing-heavy workflow naturally produces a different Hubstaff record from research, design review, or calls.
What simple mouse jigglers miss
- A basic mouse jiggler changes cursor input but does not create keyboard variation.
- A hardware mover can leave the visible screen and active application unchanged across screenshots.
- An auto-clicker can create a regular rhythm that looks unlike normal mixed computer use.
- A fixed-input tool does not change the app, URL, focus, work-session, and screenshot context surrounding the activity percentage.
How Lumous approaches the wider desktop record
- Lumous coordinates mouse movement, keyboard activity, scrolling, clicking, browser tabs, and open applications instead of relying on cursor movement alone.
- Basic Mode provides one overall activity choice; Advanced Mode separately controls the frequency of mouse, keyboard, click, scroll, tab, and application activity.
- Different levels produce generally quieter or more active sessions, letting the desktop rhythm fit lower-input or higher-input work instead of aiming for an implausible fixed percentage.
- Safe Click Zones and Click In-Place limit where automated clicks can occur, while Silent Keys can create keyboard activity without visible random text.
- The installed application, icon, and running process use the ordinary Reminders identity. Lumous stays minimized and excludes its own interface from application rotation, so Hubstaff sees the prepared workspace rather than a Lumous-branded window.
Our recorded 8-hour Hubstaff test
On June 8, 2026, we published a continuous, unattended Lumous session with the corresponding Hubstaff administrator-side review. The recording shows Lumous staying undetected throughout the full eight-hour test, with no unusual activity reported by Hubstaff.
- 8 hours of continuous unattended operation
- 54% average activity and 92% focus time
- Zero highly unusual, unusual, or slightly unusual activity instances in the reviewed dashboard
- The recording, Lumous settings, screenshots, apps, URLs, and Hubstaff reports are shown
Hubstaff frequently asked questions
Does Hubstaff detect mouse jigglers?
Hubstaff says it cannot definitively identify every mouse jiggler, but its Insights add-on can flag suspicious applications and unnatural input patterns. Lumous avoids those inconsistencies with varied activity across the complete desktop and stays undetectable to Hubstaff.
How does Hubstaff calculate activity?
Hubstaff divides time into 10-minute, 600-second segments. A second is active when keyboard or mouse input occurs. The number of active seconds divided by 600 becomes the segment's activity percentage.
Does Hubstaff record what I type?
Hubstaff states that it records whether keyboard activity occurred, not the actual keys or text. Screen captures may still show visible content when screenshots are enabled.
What is a normal Hubstaff activity percentage?
Hubstaff currently says activity above 50% is generally considered good, while also noting that the appropriate range varies by industry, role, and session length. Treat 50% as a broad benchmark rather than a universal quota for every task.
Does Hubstaff monitor my computer when the timer is off?
Hubstaff's standard desktop activity, screenshot, app, and URL collection is tied to actively tracked time. Closing the visible window is not always the same as quitting, however, because the desktop app can be configured to minimize to the tray or menu bar.
What does Hubstaff Insights show?
When available, Insights adds focus time, meetings, work-time classification, benchmarks, and Unusual Activity. Flags include known simulation apps; 95%+ activity for 30 minutes; variation of 4 points or less for 90 minutes or exactly 0 for 40; 50-minute mouse-only or keyboard-only stretches; more than 5 hours of focus above 80%; and more than 5 breakless hours never below 30% activity.
What name does Lumous use while it runs?
Lumous uses the ordinary Reminders identity for its installed app, icon, and running process. It excludes its own interface from application rotation so the workspace prepared by the user stays in the foreground.
Primary sources
Product behavior was checked against these official sources on July 16, 2026.
- Hubstaff: How tracking works
- Hubstaff: Activity calculation
- Hubstaff: Good activity percentage benchmark
- Hubstaff: Unusual activity
- Hubstaff: How to increase activity
- Hubstaff: Activity page, focus, apps, and URLs
- Hubstaff: Organization tracking settings
- Hubstaff: Desktop close-button preferences
- Hubstaff: Inactivity warning behavior
- Hubstaff: Screenshot deletion
- Hubstaff: Screenshot frequency and add-on limits
- Hubstaff: Apps and URL tracking behavior
- Hubstaff: Roles and activity visibility
- Hubstaff: Differences between timer apps