Memory is Timely's tool that records everything you work on to a beautiful private timeline. It captures all the time you spend in different files, work apps, websites, calendar events, meetings and GPS locations.
No timers, no notesーit works automatically in the background while you work, so you don't have to manually track your time or remember what you've worked on. By capturing everything you do, you get a complete picture of what you work on each day. 🖼
Below you’ll find everything you need to get Memory for Mac rocking and rolling:
Downloading
Once you’ve created a Timely workspace, you’ll get a few nudges to install Memory. If you haven’t done so, you can either go to our website or use this link to download:
Once Memory has been downloaded, open the .zip file and save the app to your Applications folder.
Installing
Open your Applications folder then double-click Memory to open the app in your menu bar. Click to log in and you’ll then be routed to Timely in a browser, where you can use your email address and password, Google or Apple authentication to sign in:
Once signed in, make sure the green button in the bottom-right corner is switched 'On' to start capturing all of your work automatically:
Note: If you want to turn Memory off, just toggle the button back to the left. When Memory is off, not data is collected or uploaded to Timely. Just be sure to turn it back on when you need to capture your work!
We also think it's a really great idea to have “Launch on Startup” selected. This way, you won't forget to turn Memory on after restarting your computer!
Mojave users and above
Memory works on everything from High Sierra upwards. However, for macOS 10.14 Mojave and above, you need to grant Memory Accessibility permissions to let it read window titles. Without this permission, it can't automatically capture everything you work on.
After updating to Mojave, you'll get a popup that looks like this, and you need to hit "OK" in order for Memory to continue working:
If you hit "Don't Allow" by mistake, no worries! Go to System Preferences > Security & Privacy then click "Automation" in the left pane, and check the unchecked applications under "Memory":
To make sure window titles of applications are captured by Memory, you might also want to check Memory is selected within "Accessibility" as well:
Customizing
Scheduler 📆
You can schedule Memory to automatically switch on an off for the duration of your working day. This is especially handy if you use your personal computers for work, ensuring that any personal browsing or desktop activity outside of work isn’t recorded.
To get started, open Memory by clicking on the brain icon in the menu bar. From there, click the Settings gear, select “Preferences” then click on the tab that says “Advanced”. Click “Enable scheduling” then set the days and times you want Memory to be active:
Idle time detection 🟡
Even though businesses are more connected than ever, not all work takes place at the computer. Impromptu meetings and water-cooler breakthroughs can still lead to game-changing decisions. That’s why we’ve designed Memory for Mac. Whenever you step away from your computer, Memory can detect your absence, and draft an entry for the time you spend offline! ⚡️💡
To enable idle time detection, click the Settings gear and select “Preferences”. Within “Advanced” you’ll find the tab for idle time detection. Once that’s enabled, Memory will detect when you’re not actively working and stop capturing activity. Make sure you’ve enabled notifications for Memory and it will then prompt you to quickly log that time upon your return, adding an additional layer of accuracy to the entries you make on a daily basis.
If you tend to work with your apps in fullscreen, you can also select the option to keep idle detection from being enabled while using those apps. This option only applies to windows where you click the green button to zoom in on macOS title bars.
Note: Based on how Memory gathers info about window size, some apps might appear to be fullscreen when they actually are not. If you find that idle detection has kicked in when you didn’t expect it or vice versa, let us know what app you were using and we’ll share that with our developers.
Pause ⏸
If you need to take a break from capturing activity for any reason, you can pause Memory directly from the Settings gear — whether for 15 or 30 minutes, 1 hour or until tomorrow:
FAQs
What are the OS requirements?
Memory for Mac supports macOS High Sierra 10.13 and above.
Does Memory for Mac have idle detection?
While we do offer idle detection for Memory for Windows, it’s not yet available on Mac. Until then, just pause or turn Memory “off”, remembering to turn it back “on” when you're ready to start working again:
If you’d like to see automatic idle detection on Memory for Mac, send us a feature request!
How do I uninstall Memory for Mac?
Before you can uninstall Memory from your Mac, you need to log out and quit the application. To log out from Memory, simply open Memory from your status bar, click on the cog wheel and select “Preferences”. From there, go to “Accounts” then select “Log out from Memory…”. To quit the application, open Memory again, click on the cog wheel and press “Quit”:
After closing Memory, you can open your Applications folder and move “Memory” to the trash to uninstall.
Note: If you’re unable to find Memory on your computer, search for 'Memory' in Spotlight (Command+Space). Also make sure you remove the Memory.zip file if it’s still in your Downloads folder.
What do I do if memories aren’t appearing on my timeline?
Our dedicated article for troubleshooting issues with Memory has all the info you need to get started.
Is my data safe/private?
Data from Memory is private to you and only you! We take privacy very seriously; click to read more about what data we capture, how we protect and process your data and how that data is incorporated into your Timely experience.