Install ActivityWatch on Windows, macOS, and Linux

ActivityWatch can be installed in two ways: by downloading a pre-built release package (the quickest option for most users), or by building directly from the source repository (useful for developers, contributors, or users who want the latest unreleased changes). Both approaches produce the same running application — aw-qt, aw-server, and the built-in watchers.

Release package
Build from source

Download the latest release from the ActivityWatch releases page and follow the instructions for your operating system.

Windows

Download the .exe installer for your architecture (e.g., activitywatch-v0.x.x-windows-x86_64-setup.exe).
Run the installer and follow the setup wizard.
ActivityWatch appears as an icon in the system tray after installation. The local server starts automatically on port 5600.

macOS

Download the .dmg disk image (e.g., activitywatch-v0.x.x-macos-x86_64.dmg).
Open the .dmg file and drag ActivityWatch into your Applications folder.
Launch ActivityWatch from Applications. On first launch, macOS may ask you to confirm opening an app from the internet — click Open.

Linux

Download the .zip archive (e.g., activitywatch-v0.x.x-linux-x86_64.zip).
Extract the archive:

unzip activitywatch-*.zip -d ~/activitywatch

Make the launcher executable and run it:

chmod +x ~/activitywatch/aw-qt
~/activitywatch/aw-qt

ActivityWatch starts in the system tray. If your desktop environment does not show system tray icons, you can run aw-server and the watchers directly, or use the provided systemd service file for headless operation.

Building from source requires cloning the repository with all submodules and running make build. This compiles the Python modules and the web UI.

Prerequisites

Python 3.8+ — required for all Python modules (aw-server, aw-watcher-window, aw-watcher-afk, etc.)
Git — needed to clone the repository and fetch submodules
Make — used to orchestrate the build across all submodules
Node.js — required to build the aw-webui frontend (bundled with aw-server)

Build steps

Clone with submodules

ActivityWatch is a meta-repository that bundles all components as Git submodules. Clone with the --recursive flag to fetch everything in one step:

git clone --recursive https://github.com/ActivityWatch/activitywatch.git
cd activitywatch

Create a virtual environment

Create and activate a Python virtual environment to keep dependencies isolated:

python3 -m venv venv
source venv/bin/activate

On Windows, activate with:

venv\Scripts\activate

Install setuptools

Install a compatible version of setuptools before building. This is required due to a known setuptools issue:

pip install 'setuptools>49.1.1'

Build all modules

Run make build from the repository root. This installs all Python packages and compiles the web UI:

make build

The build process iterates over each submodule (aw-core, aw-client, aw-server, aw-server-rust, aw-watcher-afk, aw-watcher-window, and aw-qt) and runs their individual build targets.

Run ActivityWatch

Start ActivityWatch using the system tray manager:

aw-qt

Alternatively, run it as a Python module:

python -m aw_qt

The server starts on port 5600 and the dashboard is accessible at http://localhost:5600.

Building from source requires all Git submodules to be present. If any submodule directory is empty or missing, run the following before building:

git submodule update --init --recursive

Android

The ActivityWatch Android app is available as a separate project. You can download the APK from the aw-android releases page on GitHub. The Android app runs a local server on the device and includes a built-in window and app watcher. It is not available on the Google Play Store — installation requires enabling installation from unknown sources. ActivityWatch does not automatically configure autostart during installation on all platforms. To ensure it starts when you log in:

Windows — in the system tray, right-click the ActivityWatch icon and enable Launch on startup, or add a shortcut to your Startup folder (shell:startup).
macOS — go to System Settings → General → Login Items and add ActivityWatch to the list.
Linux (systemd) — a systemd user service file is included in the release archive. Enable it with:
```
systemctl --user enable activitywatch
systemctl --user start activitywatch
```
If no service file is included in your release, you can create one manually pointing to the aw-qt binary.

Get Started

Using ActivityWatch

Configuration & Privacy

Troubleshooting

Install ActivityWatch on Windows, macOS, and Linux

Windows

macOS

Linux

Prerequisites

Build steps

Android

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Get Started

Using ActivityWatch

Configuration & Privacy

Troubleshooting

Documentation Index

​Windows

​macOS

​Linux

​Prerequisites

​Build steps

​Android

​Autostart on login

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Windows

macOS

Linux

Prerequisites

Build steps

Android

Autostart on login