Employee Guide
This guide explains how DeskTrust employee monitoring software works from your perspective as an employee. Learn what is tracked, how to use the desktop portal, and your privacy rights.
What Is DeskTrust?
DeskTrust is a productivity monitoring tool that your employer uses to track work activity during business hours. It runs as a lightweight agent on your computer and captures data about your work — such as screenshots, active applications, and work time — to help your team stay productive and accountable, especially in remote and hybrid work environments.
DeskTrust is designed to be transparent. You always know when monitoring is active, and you have controls to pause it during breaks and personal time.
What Is Monitored
- ●Screenshots: Periodic screen captures during work hours (interval set by your admin, typically every 5-30 seconds).
- ●Active applications: Which apps and websites are in the foreground and for how long.
- ●Window titles: The title of the active window (e.g., the document name in Word or tab title in Chrome).
- ●Work time: When you start, pause, resume, and stop work each day.
- ●Status: Your current status — Online, Away, Paused, or Offline.
- ●Idle time: Periods of keyboard/mouse inactivity are detected and recorded.
What Is NOT Monitored
- ✓Keystrokes are NOT recorded. DeskTrust does not log what you type.
- ✓Personal files are NOT accessed. The agent only captures screenshots and app metadata.
- ✓Camera and microphone are NOT used. No audio or video recording.
- ✓Outside work hours, nothing is tracked. Monitoring automatically pauses outside your configured schedule.
- ✓Personal devices are NOT affected. Only the work computer with the agent installed is monitored.
Using the Desktop Portal
DeskTrust provides a native desktop portal — a small popup window on your computer where you can manage your work session. This is your primary way to interact with DeskTrust.
Note: There is no system tray icon. The agent runs silently in the background, and the desktop portal opens as a native popup window (powered by Edge in app mode at localhost:19847/portal). If you need to access it manually, you can also log in at your company DeskTrust URL in any web browser.
Portal Features
- Monitoring Status: See clearly whether monitoring is currently active, paused, or outside work hours.
- Pause / Resume: Pause monitoring during breaks, lunch, or personal tasks. Resume when you are ready to work again.
- Check In / Check Out: Manually start and end your work day if preferred over automatic detection.
- Current Status: Your status shows as Online (actively working), Away (idle or screen locked), Paused (you paused monitoring), or Offline (agent not running or outside hours).
- App Usage (if enabled by admin): View your own app and website usage stats and productivity scores.
- Timesheet (if enabled by admin): See your auto-generated timesheet with clock-in/out times and break durations.
- Settings: View your configured work hours and timezone.
Away Status & Idle Detection
DeskTrust uses a Teams-like status system to accurately reflect your activity:
Online
You are actively working. The agent detects keyboard/mouse activity and captures screenshots.
Away (with duration)
You have been idle, locked your screen, or been inactive for longer than the idle timeout. Your admin sees "Away for Xm" showing how long you have been away. Activity resumes automatically when you return.
Paused
You manually paused monitoring from the desktop portal. No screenshots are taken. Resume when ready.
Offline
The agent is not running, your computer is off, or it is outside your configured work hours.
Screen lock detection ensures you are marked as Away immediately when you lock your screen, rather than waiting for the idle timeout. The agent sends keepalive pings to prevent being falsely marked as offline.
Your Privacy Rights
DeskTrust is built with employee privacy as a core principle. Here is what you should know:
- Monitoring only occurs during your configured work hours.
- You can see when monitoring is active via the desktop portal.
- You can pause monitoring during breaks and personal tasks.
- No keylogging, no camera, no microphone access.
- All data is encrypted in transit and at rest.
- Your employer defines what data they collect and how long it is retained.
- Contact your HR department or manager if you have concerns about monitoring policies.
Employee FAQ
Can I uninstall the agent?
The agent is managed by your employer IT team. If you need to uninstall it (e.g., when leaving the company), contact your administrator.
Does DeskTrust slow down my computer?
No. The agent uses minimal system resources. Screenshots are compressed before upload. You should not notice any performance impact during normal use.
What if I need to do something personal during work hours?
Use the Pause button in the desktop portal. Monitoring stops immediately. Resume when you are ready to work again.
Can I see what screenshots have been taken of my screen?
This depends on your admin settings. Some employers allow employees to view their own screenshots and activity data through the portal. Ask your manager about your company policy.
Where is the system tray icon?
DeskTrust no longer uses a system tray icon. The agent runs silently in the background. Use the native desktop portal popup to interact with DeskTrust. If the portal does not appear, you can access it at your company DeskTrust URL in a web browser.
What happens when I lock my screen?
When you lock your screen, DeskTrust immediately marks you as Away. No screenshots are taken of the lock screen. Your admin sees "Away for Xm" showing how long you have been away.
Does the agent update automatically?
Yes. The DeskTrust agent (currently v2.8) updates itself automatically in the background. You do not need to do anything — updates happen silently with no interruption to your work.
Need help?
If you have questions about how DeskTrust works at your company, contact your manager or IT team first. For technical issues, reach out to DeskTrust support.
Contact Support