Learn how to view and understand a freelancer’s work diary on Upwork, including screenshots, activity meters, and billing segments for hourly contracts.
What is a work diary on Upwork?
The work diary provides a visual record of a freelancer’s activity on hourly contracts. Our built-in time tracker, when turned on by the freelancer, captures about six screenshots per hour and logs keyboard and mouse activity levels to help you see how time is being spent.
You can view a freelancer’s work diary to track progress and understand what time is billable. While you can’t edit diary entries or message freelancers through the diary, it’s a useful way to stay aligned without disrupting the work.
Important: Only time logged using the time tracker is eligible for Upwork Hourly Protection. Manual time is not protected. Learn the difference between tracked and manual time.
Where can I see my freelancer's work diary?
- Go to Manage work > Your contracts
- Find the contract you wish to view and select (...)
- Choose View work diary
You can adjust the date range to see specific days. You can also switch between time zones — UTC (the default), your own, or your freelancer’s.
How do I read the work diary?
When you review the work diary, you see the screenshots our system took, along with an activity summary.
Screenshots
Screenshots are grouped into sets based on when the freelancer starts and stops tracking time. To scroll through a set, select a screenshot, then choose Next or Previous to view others from that same time period.
The memo bars in the diary are color-coded to indicate the status of that billing segment.
- Dark green: Auto-tracked time, billable on hourly contracts
- Light green: If you've allowed the freelancer to add manual time, you'll see it here.
- Red: Time over the weekly limit agreed. This time is not billed to you, although you can give the freelancer a bonus.
Activity meter
The row of green blocks you see under each screen capture is the activity meter. It shows the number of minutes out of a 10-minute billing segment that included activity. The meter records the total number of mouse clicks, scroll actions, and keystrokes per segment. It doesn't record what a freelancer clicked or typed. Select the meter for a detailed view, including minute-by-minute activity counts.
Note: Activity levels during a stretch of logged time will fluctuate depending on the task. Some tasks, such as phone calls, reading, and thinking, will show low activity. For this reason, it's possible that you'll see zero mouse clicks and zero keystrokes, but other activity will still be recorded. If you are concerned about significant portions of the work diary with low activity, please discuss them with your freelancer.