Getting Started with DeskTrust

Set up employee monitoring software for your team in under 5 minutes. This guide walks you through creating your account, adding employees, installing the lightweight desktop agent, and configuring your first monitoring policies.

System Requirements

Admin Dashboard

  • Any modern web browser (Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge)
  • Internet connection

Employee Agent (Desktop)

Windows

  • Windows 10 or 11
  • 4 GB RAM minimum
  • 100 MB disk space
  • .NET Framework 4.7.2+

macOS

  • macOS 12 Monterey+
  • 4 GB RAM minimum
  • 100 MB disk space
  • Screen Recording permission

Linux

  • Ubuntu 20.04+ / Debian 11+
  • 4 GB RAM minimum
  • 100 MB disk space
  • X11 or Wayland
1

Create Your Account

Visit desktrust.com and click Start Free Trial. Every plan includes a full-featured 30-day trial — no credit card required.

  1. Enter your company name, full name, email address, and password.
  2. Verify your email address by clicking the link sent to your inbox.
  3. Log in to the admin dashboard at app.desktrust.com.

Tip: Use your company email for the admin account. You can add additional admin users later from Settings.

2

Add Employees

From the admin dashboard, navigate to Employees and click Add Employee.

  1. Enter the employee name and email address.
  2. Assign them to a group or department (optional).
  3. Set their work hours and timezone.
  4. Copy the unique Agent Key generated for this employee — you will need it during installation.

You can add employees one at a time or use bulk import via CSV for larger teams.

3

Download & Install the Agent

Download the DeskTrust agent for the employee computer. The agent runs silently in the background — there is no system tray icon. Employees interact with DeskTrust through the native desktop portal instead.

Windows Installation

  1. Download DeskTrustAgent-Setup.exe from the admin dashboard.
  2. Run the installer as Administrator.
  3. Enter the Server URL and Agent Key when prompted.
  4. The agent installs as a Windows service and starts automatically.
  5. The native desktop portal will appear — the employee can log in there.

macOS Installation

  1. Download DeskTrustAgent.pkg from the admin dashboard.
  2. Open the .pkg file and follow the installer steps.
  3. Grant Screen Recording and Accessibility permissions when prompted in System Settings.
  4. The agent runs as a background service (launchd).
  5. Active window detection uses AppleScript for accurate app tracking on macOS.

Linux Installation

  1. Download the .deb package from the admin dashboard.
  2. Install with: sudo dpkg -i desktrust-agent.deb
  3. Configure the agent key in /etc/desktrust/config.json
  4. Start the service: sudo systemctl start desktrust-agent

Important: The agent no longer uses a system tray icon. It runs completely in the background. Employees use the native desktop portal popup (powered by Edge --app mode) to check status, pause monitoring, and manage their work session.

4

Configure Monitoring Settings

Customize your employee screen monitoring policies from the admin dashboard under Settings.

  • Screenshot Interval: Set how often screenshots are captured (every 5 seconds up to every 5 minutes).
  • Work Hours: Define the schedule during which monitoring is active. Outside these hours, the agent pauses automatically.
  • App Categories: Classify applications as productive, unproductive, or neutral. Business social media use (LinkedIn, etc.) can be marked as productive.
  • Employee Portal Visibility: Toggle whether employees can see their app usage stats and timesheets in the portal.
  • Idle Timeout: Set the duration of inactivity before status changes to Away.
  • Geofencing: Optionally restrict monitoring to approved locations.
5

Start Monitoring

Once the agent is installed and the employee is within work hours, monitoring begins automatically. From the admin dashboard you can:

  • View the Dashboard: See all employees with real-time status (Online, Away, Paused, Offline).
  • Live View: Click any employee to watch their screen in real time.
  • Playback: Scrub through the screenshot timeline for any past workday.
  • Reports: View daily productivity reports with AI-generated summaries.
  • Timesheets: Auto-generated timesheets based on actual activity data.

What Next?

Admin Guide

Deep dive into every admin feature — live view, playback, reports, groups, geofencing, and more.

Employee Guide

Share this guide with your team so they understand how monitoring works and how to use the portal.

Agent Setup Guide

Detailed installation and troubleshooting instructions for all operating systems.

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