Learn how to add manual time to your work diary, when to use it, and how time zones and diary lock times affect your logged hours.
In this article
- What is manual time and why would I need to add it to my work diary?
- How do I add manual time?
- How to edit or remove manual time in your Work Diary?
- How do time zones and work diary lock times work?
What is manual time and why would I need to add it to my work diary?
Sometimes, your work isn’t trackable with the Upwork Desktop App's Time Tracker — like phone calls, paper sketches, file transfers, or anything that happens offline. That’s where manual time comes in.
If you and your client agree that logging hours manually makes sense, you can use this feature to track and bill that time. Just make sure your client has manual time enabled on the contract first — they can turn it on or off anytime, so it's always a good idea to check in with them before adding hours.
Heads-up! Manual time isn't covered by Hourly Protection. So before you log it, be sure your client’s on board and you trust them to pay you.
How do I add manual time?
From your computer:
- Go to your work diary
- Select the contract from the dropdown menu
- Choose the day you want to log time for, then click Add manual time
- Enter the time range, write a quick description of the work, and hit Save
From the desktop app:
- Open the Upwork Desktop App and select your contract
- Click Add manual time
- Choose the date and time, write a short work summary, and click Save
Important to remember:
- You can only add manual time for open billing periods and for time slots where you haven’t already tracked time
- Once the work diary locks, you can't edit it
- Manual time can't be added to paused contracts
How to edit or remove manual time in your Work Diary?
If your contract is active, you can edit or remove manual time entries in your current week’s Work Diary. Work Diary entries for the previous week become locked and uneditable every Monday at 12 pm UTC.
Steps to edit or remove manual time
- Go to Work Diary
- Select the contract
- Select the day containing the manual time entry you want to change
- Choose how to select your time entry:
- Individual entry: Hover over the area below the time entry to display the checkbox, then select it
- Group entry: Select the three-dot menu (...) to open group options
- Choose your action:
- Edit: Select Edit to modify the selected entry or group
- Remove: Select Remove to delete the selected entry or group
- Make your changes and select Save or Confirm
Note: Removed time cannot be restored.
Unable to edit or remove manual time?
If you cannot edit or remove a manual time entry, check the following conditions:
- Contract status: If your contract is paused, manual time entries may not be editable until the contract is resumed. If the contract has ended, manual time can no longer be changed.
- Locked week: If the Work Diary week is locked (after Monday at 12 pm UTC), entries can no longer be modified.
How do time zones and work diary lock times work?
Here’s the key thing to know: the work diary runs on UTC time by default, even if you're working in a different time zone.
- You can switch the view to your own time zone to make tracking easier
- But the lock time always follows UTC — it happens at 12:00 am Monday UTC, no matter where you are in the world
Example 1:
You log time on Sunday, Dec 1, from 9:00 to 10:00 pm your time, but in UTC that’s already Monday, Dec 2, 1:00 to 2:00 am — so it counts for the new week.
Example 2:
You log time on Monday, Dec 2, from 12:00 to 1:00 am your time, but in UTC that’s still Sunday, Dec 1, 10:00 to 11:00 pm — so it counts for the previous week.