How to track time spent on websites on your PC

Neither Chrome nor Edge has a timer for the sites you visit, so to track time spent on websites you add a tool that counts it. A browser extension lives inside one browser and counts the tab you're looking at. A desktop tracker runs on Windows itself, sees which window is in front of you and, when it's a browser, which site it's showing.

Both rank your sites by time, for today and for the week. They differ in what they can see, which browsers they cover and where your data goes.

In Edge, press Ctrl + H to open History. As Microsoft describes Edge's history, it records which sites you went to and when each visit happened: when a page opened, not how long it stayed open or whether you were looking at it.

Chrome is the same. Its History, at More > History > History or Ctrl + H, keeps the last 90 days of pages you've opened, which you can browse by date or by group, as Google's help page on Chrome history explains. There's no column for time spent.

A list of visits can't become a list of minutes. A YouTube visit at 9:02 and the next site at 9:40 could be 38 minutes of watching, or a two-minute clip and a cup of tea.

Windows doesn't fill the gap. Where it lists apps, such as the battery usage page on a laptop at Settings > System > Power & battery > Battery usage, your browser is one app, with no breakdown by site. Our guide on how to check screen time on Windows covers what Windows can show.

A time-tracking extension watches the tab you're on and adds the seconds to that site. Open it from the Extensions button beside the address bar for today's sites ranked by time, usually with charts for earlier days. Both were checked against their store listings in October 2026.

Webtime Tracker

A free Chrome extension with no ads, from developer Peta Sittek, with about 100,000 users. It shows time per site and per domain, with charts, and exports to CSV. It counts only while the Chrome window is active, and you set how long you can be idle before it stops, with an option to keep counting while media plays. Its last update was in March 2025.

StayFree

From Sensor Tower, on the Chrome Web Store (about 200,000 users) and Firefox Add-ons. Besides charts of your daily and past use, it adds limits by site or category, scheduled and keyword blocking, and options to hide parts of sites such as YouTube Shorts. Its stats sync with StayFree's Android and desktop apps, and its Chrome listing says it collects web history, user activity and website content, among other data.

Add an extension to Chrome or Edge

Edge installs extensions from the Chrome Web Store as well as its own Edge Add-ons. Microsoft documents adding extensions in Microsoft Edge.

1. 1
   Step 1: Open the extension's listing

   Find it on the Chrome Web Store, and check the developer's name, since several trackers have similar names.

2. 2
   Step 2: Select Add to Chrome, or Get in Edge

   If Edge asks whether to allow extensions from other stores, select Allow.

3. 3
   Step 3: Read the permissions, then add it

   The prompt lists what the extension will be able to see. If you're comfortable with it, select Add extension. It counts from now on, not before.

To count time per site, an extension has to know which site every tab is on. In Chrome, access to your tabs shows as Read your browsing history, and broader access as Read and change all your data on all websites. Firefox calls the broad version Access your data for all websites, which StayFree's Firefox listing requires.

Reading every page is more than a timer strictly needs. Before you install one, check three things on its listing:

• Who makes it: a named developer with a website you can look up.
• What it declares: the Chrome Web Store's privacy section lists the kinds of data the extension collects and what the developer promises about their use.
• Where the data goes: some keep everything in your browser, others sync to the developer's servers. If the listing doesn't say, the privacy policy should.

You can review an extension's access or remove it any time: in Chrome at More > Extensions > Manage extensions, then Details; in Edge from the Extensions button beside the address bar, then Manage extensions.

A desktop tracker works from outside the browser. Windows tells it which window is in front; when that's a browser, the tracker works out which site it's showing. Following the window in front means a site counts only while you can see it: music in a tab behind your editor is time in your editor.

These are the options we'd look at, each checked against its own site or listing in October 2026. We make TimeWell, so weigh our view accordingly.

ActivityWatch is free, open source and local-first: it keeps what it records on your own device rather than sending it to a server. It tracks websites through its web watcher extension for Chrome or Firefox, which logs each active tab's title and full address, so it takes a little setup, but it's a strong free choice if you want your data kept on your PC.

RescueTime has a free Lite plan with two weeks of history, and paid plans by subscription, as of October 2026. On Windows its app tracks sites in Chrome, Firefox, Edge and Brave without an extension, and uploads your activity to its servers every few minutes to build your reports. It records window titles unless you turn that off, and says it never records what you type or the content of web pages.

For apps that track the whole PC, not just the browser, see our pick of the best screen time apps for Windows.

TimeWell is a screen time app for Windows that counts every app and website you use, with no extension. It reads the address bar of the browser in front of you through Windows' accessibility interface and keeps only the domain, such as youtube.com: never the full address, the page or what you type.

It works in Chrome, Edge, Brave, Opera, Vivaldi, Arc and other Chromium browsers, and Firefox and its forks: LibreWolf, Waterfox, Floorp and Zen. A site is one line whichever browser you used.

Time counts while a site is in front of you and the screen is on and unlocked, so reading and watching count. A quiet stretch is dropped only when the screen turns off, the PC locks or sleeps, or the quiet passes an allowance you can set, 15 minutes by default.

Find your top sites

1. 1
   Step 1: Get TimeWell running

   Install it from the download page and sign in. It starts with Windows and counts quietly from then on.

2. 2
   Step 2: Open Activity

   Choose Day or Week and pick a day from the strip of dates. Week shows your daily average against last week.

3. 3
   Step 3: Read Most used

   With Apps & sites selected, everything you used is ranked by time, websites by domain beside your apps.

4. 4
   Step 4: Look inside an hour

   In Day, click any bar in the hourly chart to see which apps and sites filled that hour.

5. 5
   Step 5: Group by category

   Switch Most used to Categories to see how much went to Social or Entertainment across apps and sites together.

Turn a site into a daily goal

For a site you want more time on, like a course or a language site, make a habit: a daily time goal in minutes or hours for one website, which TimeWell counts from your browsing, with a graph of about the last three months and a streak. Our guide to habit trackers for Windows goes further.

A habit is a goal to reach, not a cap. For a site you want less of, watch its line in Most used; TimeWell won't block it or stop you at a limit. For a hard stop, see our guide to screen time limits on Windows.

Everything stays in a small database in your own user folder. It's never uploaded and there's no telemetry or analytics: what TimeWell sends over the internet is only the trial registration, the price on offer and, once you sign in, the licence check, never a site you visited. No window titles, keystrokes or screenshots. More on how TimeWell keeps your data.

What it won't do: block sites, enforce limits, sync to your phone or run on a Mac. It's for Windows 10 and 11, 64-bit, free to download, and Pro is a one-time payment, with no subscription.

After a week, look past the total at three things.

• The top three. Browsing time tends to pile up in a few sites. Those are the ones worth a plan.
• The hours. A site that fills the hour before bed needs a different fix from one that fills ten-minute gaps all afternoon.
• The trend. If this week is already lower than last, something is working.

Then change one thing at a time: sign out of the site so each visit takes a moment's thought, take it off your bookmarks bar, or give it a set time of day. Our guide to reducing screen time on your PC goes through these and more, and a Pomodoro timer keeps the sites you don't need out of a work session.