🖥 Does Hubstaff Record My Screen? A Straight Answer

The short answer: Hubstaff captures screenshots, not continuous screen recording. The difference matters — both for what your employer actually sees and for your rights as an employee.

What Hubstaff captures by default

• Screenshots of your active screen, taken on a random interval inside a configurable window (commonly every 10 minutes).
• Active application and URL.
• Keyboard and mouse activity counts (not the content of what you type).
• Idle time when there’s no input.

It does not, by default:

• Record continuous video of your screen.
• Capture your webcam.
• Capture your microphone.
• Log the actual content of your keystrokes.
• Run when the timer is off.

The timer is the on/off switch

Hubstaff only captures data while the timer is running. When you stop the timer — for breaks, personal time, or end of day — capture stops. That distinguishes it from "always-on" employee monitoring tools, where capture starts when the OS boots.

Can your employer change what is captured?

Yes. Admin settings let employers turn screenshots off entirely, raise the interval, blur screenshots, or capture all monitors instead of just the active one. So while the defaults are screenshot-only, what your specific employer captures depends on their settings. You can ask, and most jurisdictions require them to tell you.

What can your employer see?

• How many hours your timer ran each day.
• Activity score (keyboard/mouse rate vs idle).
• Sample screenshots from your work sessions.
• Which apps and websites you used while the timer ran.

What they generally cannot see, with default settings:

• What you did when the timer was off.
• Your personal browser history.
• Files on your machine.
• Your webcam or microphone.

Your rights as an employee

In the US, UK, EU, and most GCC jurisdictions, employers must disclose monitoring before it begins. You generally have the right to:

• Be told what is captured and how often.
• See your own data.
• Know retention period and who has access.
• Have monitoring stop on personal devices and personal accounts.

How DeskTrust compares

DeskTrust takes the same general approach as Hubstaff — screenshots, not video — with a few defaults flipped: employee-visible status, automatic sensitive-period blur, and a per-user "what my manager sees" view. If you’re an employer evaluating either, compare plans or try a free trial.