Get-WorkTime

Get-WorkTime is a small PowerShell module that reads boot, wake, shutdown, sleep, standby and hibernate events from the Windows event log and presents them as simple work-time summaries.

It was primarily created to track personal work times, such as:

When the computer was first started in the morning
When it was shut down or suspended at the end of the day
How long you actually worked on it, with or without breaks such as standby or a locked lunch

The module provides:

A daily overview with start time, end time, work time (without the detected breaks) and overall time span
An optional detailed session view showing the individual sessions within a day, including how each one started and ended
Output as structured PowerShell objects, making it easy to further process or analyze the data via the pipeline

More views: sessions, overtime, weekly totals, statistics and charts, see Screenshots.

Features

Daily summary of system start and end times, or the individual sessions (-All)
Any period: the last N days, a single day or a date range (-Days, -Date, -From/-To)
WorkTime (sum of all sessions, without the detected breaks: standby, sleep, shutdown and optionally locks and idle) and Overall time span (first start to last end) per day
Totals per week or month (-Summary)
Overtime / undertime against a daily target, with a running total (-TargetHours)
Statistics (Measure-WorkTime): averages, longest days, start and end times, breaks, rest, per weekday, … and simple bar charts (Format-Table -View Chart)
Shutdown, sleep (S3), Modern Standby (S0, typical for current laptops: lid closed, power button, Start menu) and hibernation count as breaks
Optional: screen turned off after inactivity (-IncludeIdle) and workstation lock (-IncludeLock) as breaks
Short interruptions (quick restart, brief idle or lock) are not counted as breaks (-OffMinutes, -BreakMinutes)
Shows how each session started and ended (Via column, e.g. Boot -> Standby, Standby -> Hibernate)
Crashes / power loss are detected (new boot while a session is still open); the inferred end is marked with *
Sessions past midnight are split per day (24:00 / 00:00); a session that is still running ends with now
Returns PowerShell objects with real DateTime / TimeSpan values, ready for post-processing: export to CSV/Excel, filter, group, sum up (see Usage and Output); the table is only the display
-Verbose for a summary, -Debug for a per-event trace (troubleshooting)
Keep a history beyond the event log retention: Export-WorkTime appends completed days (or sessions) to a CSV file (see Keeping more history)

Requirements

Windows, PowerShell 7 or Windows PowerShell 5.1
No admin rights needed

Installation

Manual installation

Clone the repository:

git clone https://github.com/zh54321/Get-WorkTime

Import the module before usage:
```
Import-Module ./Get-WorkTime/Get-WorkTime.psd1
```
Import the .psd1 (or the folder), not the .psm1. Otherwise the table formatting is not loaded.
Optional: to have PowerShell load the module automatically on first use, copy the entire Get-WorkTime folder into your PowerShell module directory:
- PowerShell 7: Documents\PowerShell\Modules
- Windows PowerShell 5.1: Documents\WindowsPowerShell\Modules

Automatic

Run the following commands to install the module for the current user (works in PowerShell 7 and Windows PowerShell 5.1):

$modulePath = Join-Path ([Environment]::GetFolderPath('MyDocuments')) $(
    if ($PSVersionTable.PSEdition -eq 'Core') { 'PowerShell\Modules' } else { 'WindowsPowerShell\Modules' }
)

git clone https://github.com/zh54321/Get-WorkTime (Join-Path $modulePath 'Get-WorkTime')

# Import the module
Import-Module Get-WorkTime

Usage

Basics

Get-WorkTime                                  # daily summary, last 7 days
Get-WorkTime -Days 14                         # last 14 days
Get-WorkTime -All                             # individual sessions instead of the daily summary
Get-WorkTime yesterday -All                   # one day
Get-WorkTime -Date 2026-10-05                 # one day
Get-WorkTime -From Monday                     # since the most recent Monday
Get-WorkTime -All -IncludeIdle -IncludeLock   # idle (screen off) and locks over 15 min are breaks

Breaks

Which breaks count as work time is up to you, e.g. short (paid) breaks count, lunch does not.

What happens	Counts as a break
Lid closed, standby, sleep, hibernate, shutdown	if longer than `-OffMinutes` (default 3 minutes)
Workstation locked (`-IncludeLock`)	only if longer than `-BreakMinutes` (default 15)
Screen turned off after inactivity (`-IncludeIdle`)	only if longer than `-BreakMinutes` (default 15)
Locked / idle without the switches	never: counts as work time

Example: one day with a short lock (7 min), a meeting away from the desk (locked, 35 min), lunch (locked and lid closed, 44 min) and a phone call away from the desk (screen off, 33 min):

Get-WorkTime -Date 2026-03-12 -TargetHours 8:24                                        # only the lunch (lid closed) is a break
Get-WorkTime -Date 2026-03-12 -TargetHours 8:24 -IncludeLock -IncludeIdle              # breaks over 15 min: meeting, call and lunch
Get-WorkTime -Date 2026-03-12 -TargetHours 8:24 -IncludeLock -IncludeIdle -BreakMinutes 40   # breaks up to 40 min count as work: only the lunch

Command	WorkTime	Balance
without switches	08:45	+00:21
`-IncludeLock -IncludeIdle`	07:34	-00:50
`-IncludeLock -IncludeIdle -BreakMinutes 40`	08:42	+00:18

-All shows which breaks were taken into account (column Via, e.g. Unlock -> Lock). Use the same switches every time, also for Export-WorkTime, so the results stay comparable.

Totals and overtime

Get-WorkTime -From Monday -TargetHours 8:24 -IncludeLock     # balance per day and running total
Get-WorkTime -Days 28 -Summary Week -IncludeLock             # total and average per week
Get-WorkTime -From 2026-01-01 -Summary Month -TargetHours 8.4 -IncludeLock

PS> Get-WorkTime -Days 14 -Summary Week -TargetHours 8:24 -IncludeLock -BreakMinutes 40

Week     From       To         Days WorkTime Average Target Balance
----     ----       --         ---- -------- ------- ------ -------
2026-W09 28.02.2026 01.03.2026 1    00:35    00:35   00:00  +00:35
2026-W10 02.03.2026 08.03.2026 4    37:16    09:19   33:36  +03:40
2026-W11 09.03.2026 13.03.2026 5    42:45    08:33   42:00  +00:45

Locks of up to 40 minutes count as work time here (-BreakMinutes 40, see Breaks).

The balance is only as accurate as the break detection. Without switches, only times the computer is off (lid closed, standby, sleep, shutdown) count as breaks; a locked lunch or a meeting away from the desk count as work time. The current week (09.-13.03.) in the daily view, with the default -BreakMinutes of 15 minutes:

Command	Total
`Get-WorkTime -TargetHours 8:24`	+00:57
`Get-WorkTime -TargetHours 8:24 -IncludeLock`	-00:30
`Get-WorkTime -TargetHours 8:24 -IncludeLock -IncludeIdle`	-01:03

So if you lock your workstation during breaks, use -IncludeLock (and -IncludeIdle if you sometimes leave without locking) together with -TargetHours. To avoid typing them every time, see Your own defaults.

By default only weekdays you worked have a target: days off (vacation, holidays) count nothing, work on the weekend counts fully as overtime. -TargetDays changes this (see Parameters).

Processing the output

Get-WorkTime -From 2026-09-01 -To 2026-09-30 | Export-Csv worktime-09.csv -NoTypeInformation

# Total work time of a month in hours
(Get-WorkTime -From 2026-09-01 -To 2026-09-30 | ForEach-Object { $_.WorkTime.TotalHours } | Measure-Object -Sum).Sum

# Days with more than 9 hours
Get-WorkTime -Days 30 | Where-Object { $_.WorkTime -gt [TimeSpan]'09:00' }

Get-WorkTime -Days 30 -All | Group-Object EndType            # how did the sessions end?
Get-WorkTime -Days 30 -All | Where-Object EndType -eq Crash   # all crashes
Get-WorkTime -Date Friday -All -Debug                         # why does Friday look like this?

# This week to the clipboard, then paste into Excel (Ctrl+V fills separate columns; hours as decimal number)
Get-WorkTime -From Monday | ForEach-Object {
    $end = if ($_.EndTime -eq $_.Date.AddDays(1)) { '24:00' } else { $_.EndTime.ToString('HH:mm') }
    "{0:d}`t{1:HH:mm}`t{2}`t{3:0.00}" -f $_.Date, $_.StartTime, $end, $_.WorkTime.TotalHours
} | Set-Clipboard

# When do I start? Distribution of the start times per hour
Get-WorkTime -Days 90 | Where-Object StartType -ne Continued | Group-Object { $_.StartTime.Hour } |
    Sort-Object { [int]$_.Name } | ForEach-Object { '{0:00}:00  {1}' -f [int]$_.Name, ('#' * $_.Count) }

For averages, longest days, rest and more see Statistics and charts.

Date input

-Date, -From and -To accept:

a date in your regional format (e.g. 05.10.2026 on de-CH, 10/5/2026 on en-US) or ISO format (2026-10-05)
today, yesterday or a day offset (0 = today, -1 = yesterday, -7 = a week ago)
a day name in English or your language (Monday, Montag, Mo): the most recent such day, today included
a [datetime] object, e.g. (Get-Date).AddDays(-3)

Your own defaults

PowerShell can remember parameter values per command ($PSDefaultParameterValues). Add the lines you need to your profile (notepad $PROFILE), e.g. a daily target of 8:24 and locks as breaks:

$PSDefaultParameterValues['Get-WorkTime:TargetHours']    = '8:24'
$PSDefaultParameterValues['Get-WorkTime:IncludeLock']    = $true
$PSDefaultParameterValues['Export-WorkTime:IncludeLock'] = $true   # export calculated the same way

PowerShell 7 and Windows PowerShell 5.1 have separate profiles, so add the lines to each one you use. A plain Get-WorkTime then shows the balance with locks as breaks. A value on the command line wins, e.g. Get-WorkTime -IncludeLock:$false. -TargetHours is ignored with -All.

Statistics and charts

Pipe the daily rows of Get-WorkTime into Measure-WorkTime. The period, the switches and any filter are up to you:

Get-WorkTime -Days 90 | Measure-WorkTime
Get-WorkTime -From 2026-01-01 -IncludeLock -TargetHours 8:24 | Measure-WorkTime -Detailed
Get-WorkTime -Days 90 | Measure-WorkTime -ExcludeWeekends                             # weekdays only
Get-WorkTime -Days 90 | Where-Object { $_.Date.Month -eq 9 } | Measure-WorkTime        # any filter, e.g. September only

# Breaks only from 30 minutes: shorter locks and idle times count as work time
Get-WorkTime -Days 90 -IncludeLock -IncludeIdle -BreakMinutes 30 | Measure-WorkTime

# The same, and also a lid closed (standby) for less than 30 minutes counts as work time
Get-WorkTime -Days 90 -IncludeLock -IncludeIdle -BreakMinutes 30 -OffMinutes 30 | Measure-WorkTime

PS> Get-WorkTime -Days 14 -IncludeLock | Measure-WorkTime

Period       : 01.03.2026 - 12.03.2026, 9 days worked (today not included, still running)
Work time    : 72:22 total, 08:02 average, 08:14 median
Longest day  : 11:42  Mon 02.03.2026
Shortest day : 00:35  Sun 01.03.2026
Start        : 08:06 average, earliest 07:05 (Tue 03.03.2026)
End          : 17:13 average, latest 22:10 (Mon 02.03.2026)
Breaks       : 01:04 average per day
Long days    : 1 over 10 h
Weekend days : 1
Short rest   : 1 time under 11 h between two working days
Per weekday  : Mon 09:58 | Tue 09:17 | Wed 09:24 | Thu 08:10 | Fri 07:33 | Sun 00:35

-Detailed adds: spread of the day lengths, most common start hour, late evenings (ending after 20:00), long weeks, longest run of working days, trend (second half of the period vs. first half), busiest week and how the days ended (Shutdown 75 %, Standby 12 %, …).
With -TargetHours input: total balance and days over / under target.
A day that is still running (today) is not included, since it would distort the averages; -IncludeToday includes it.
Start statistics ignore days that started the day before, end statistics days without a real end (still running at midnight or now). Short rest is the time between the end of one working day and the start of the next one.
The result is an object with typed properties, e.g. (Get-WorkTime -Days 30 | Measure-WorkTime).AverageStart.

Parameter	Description	Default
`-Detailed`	Show all statistics. The returned object is the same.	off
`-IncludeToday`	Also include the day that is still running.	off
`-ExcludeWeekends`	Leave out Saturdays and Sundays (e.g. a short check of mails on Sunday). `Weekend days` still counts them.	off
`-LongDayHours`	A day with more work time counts as a long day.	`10`
`-LongWeekHours`	An ISO week with at least this much work time counts as a long week.	`50`
`-MinRestHours`	Rest between two working days shorter than this counts as short rest.	`11`

Bar charts per day, week or month:

Get-WorkTime -Days 14 | Format-Table -View Chart
Get-WorkTime -Days 84 -Summary Week | Format-Table -View Chart
Get-WorkTime -From 2026-01-01 -Summary Month | Format-Table -View Chart

PS> Get-WorkTime -Days 63 -Summary Week -IncludeLock | Format-Table -View Chart

Week     WorkTime 1 # = 1 h
----     -------- ---------
2026-W03 41:00    #########################################
2026-W04 50:00    ##################################################
2026-W05 24:54    #########################
2026-W06 41:50    ##########################################
2026-W07 33:22    #################################
2026-W08 43:00    ###########################################
2026-W09 43:45    ############################################
2026-W10 37:16    #####################################
2026-W11 41:30    ##########################################

The scale is fixed per view: day 1 # = 15 min, week 1 # = 1 h, month 1 # = 4 h. The chart only changes the display; the objects stay the same.

Parameters (`Get-WorkTime`)

Parameter	Description	Default
`-Days`	Number of days to include (including today).	`7`
`-Date`	Report a single day (positional: `Get-WorkTime yesterday`). Cannot be combined with `-Days` or `-From`/`-To`.
`-From` / `-To`	Report a date range; both days are included. Cannot be combined with `-Days` or `-Date`.	`-To`: today
`-All`	Show the individual sessions instead of the daily summary.	off
`-IncludeIdle`	Also treat `Idle` (screen turned off after inactivity) as a break. Without it, idle is ignored completely, so e.g. a notebook left open overnight counts as running until it hibernates or is used again.	off
`-IncludeLock`	Also treat workstation lock/unlock as end/start of a session, so locked time does not count. After a wake on the lock screen, the session starts at the unlock. No admin rights needed; the lock/unlock log may only cover a few weeks (see Keeping more history).	off
`-BreakMinutes`	With `-IncludeIdle` / `-IncludeLock`: idle and locks only count as a break if they last longer than this; shorter ones count as work time. `0` = every idle/lock is a break.	`15`
`-OffMinutes`	If the system was off (restart, sleep, standby, hibernate) for up to this many minutes, it is not a break: the previous session continues. `0` = every off period is a break. Alias: `-MergeGapMinutes` (name before version 2.0).	`3`
`-TargetHours`	Daily target, as hours:minutes (`8:24`) or hours (`8.4`). Adds `Balance` (WorkTime minus target) and a running `Total` to the daily summary, and `Target` / `Balance` to `-Summary`. Ignored with `-All`.
`-TargetDays`	Which days have a target: `WorkedWeekdays` = Mon-Fri with work; `Weekdays` = every Mon-Fri, also without work (shown as a row with `00:00`); `WorkedDays` = every day with work, also on the weekend.	`WorkedWeekdays`
`-Summary`	`Week` or `Month`: one row per ISO week (Monday to Sunday) or calendar month with days worked, total and average WorkTime. Not with `-All`.
`-Raw`	Skip the table view and show the plain property values. The returned objects are the same (see Output).	off
`-Verbose`	Summary: range, state at range start, events read, sessions and how they ended.	off
`-Debug`	Every start/end event and what was done with it (troubleshooting).	off

Output

Daily summary (default) and sessions (-All) are objects with these properties:

Property	Description
`Day`, `DayOfWeek`, `DayOfWeekNumber`, `Date`	The day (localized short name, enum, 0-6, `DateTime`)
`Session`	Number of the session within the day (`-All` only)
`StartTime`, `EndTime`	`DateTime`
`WorkTime`	`TimeSpan`: duration of the session, or sum of all sessions of the day (called `UpTime` before version 2.0)
`Overall`	`TimeSpan`: first start to last end (daily summary only)
`Sessions`	Number of sessions of the day (daily summary only)
`StartType`, `EndType`	How the session (or day) started and ended, see below
`IsInferred`	End inferred after a crash or power loss (shown as `*`)
`IsRunning`	Still running now (shown as `now`)
`Target`, `Balance`, `Total`	`TimeSpan`, with `-TargetHours` (daily summary): target of the day, WorkTime minus target, running total of the balance

With -Summary, one object per period: Week (e.g. 2026-W11) or Month (e.g. 2026-03), From, To, Days (days worked), WorkTime, Average (per day worked), and with -TargetHours also Target and Balance.

Start and end types

Shown as Via with -All:

StartType	Meaning	EndType	Meaning
`Boot`	System started	`Shutdown`	Shut down
		`Restart`	Restarted (only if longer than `-OffMinutes`, otherwise merged)
`Sleep`	Woke from sleep	`Sleep`	Went to sleep
`Standby`	Left Modern Standby	`Standby`	Entered Modern Standby (lid, power button, Start menu)
`Hibernate`	Resumed from hibernation	`Hibernate`	Hibernated
`Idle`	Back after `Idle` (`-IncludeIdle`)	`Idle`	Screen turned off after inactivity (`-IncludeIdle`)
`Unlock`	Workstation unlocked (`-IncludeLock`)	`Lock`	Workstation locked (`-IncludeLock`)
`Continued`	Already running at midnight / range start	`Continued`	Still running at midnight / at the end of the range
		`Crash`	Crash or power loss (end inferred, `*`)
		`Running`	Still running now

Keeping more history (`Export-WorkTime`)

The event logs are not kept forever: older entries are overwritten when a log is full. Export-WorkTime appends your work times to a CSV file: all completed days (up to yesterday) that are not in the file yet. Run it from time to time, e.g. weekly; it never creates duplicates.

Export-WorkTime                               # days -> .\WorkTime.csv (current folder)
Export-WorkTime -All                          # sessions -> .\WorkTime-Sessions.csv
Export-WorkTime D:\Backup\WorkTime.csv -IncludeLock
Export-WorkTime -WhatIf                       # show what would be appended

"Date";"Day";"Start";"End";"WorkTime";"Hours";"Overall";"Sessions";"StartType";"EndType";"Options"
"2026-03-09";"Monday";"07:52";"17:31";"08:56";"8.93";"09:39";"2";"Boot";"Shutdown";"OffMinutes=3"
"2026-03-10";"Tuesday";"08:05";"17:48";"08:48";"8.8";"09:43";"3";"Boot";"Shutdown";"OffMinutes=3"

The first export starts at the first complete day of the System log.
Dates and times have a fixed format (2026-03-09, 07:52, 24:00 for a day running until midnight). Hours are decimal hours, easy to add up.
Separator and decimal point follow your regional settings, so the file opens in Excel by double-click (-Invariant: comma and dot). An existing file always keeps its format.
Only raw data, no target: balances can be calculated from it at any time.
Options records how the rows were calculated. Use the same switches every time; a warning is shown if they differ from the last export.
With -IncludeLock, export at least weekly: the lock/unlock log may only cover a few weeks.

Parameter	Description	Default
`-Path`	The CSV file (positional). Days and sessions can't be mixed in one file.	`.\WorkTime.csv`, with `-All` `.\WorkTime-Sessions.csv`
`-All`	One row per session instead of per day.	off
`-IncludeIdle`, `-IncludeLock`, `-BreakMinutes`, `-OffMinutes`	Calculation, as with `Get-WorkTime`.	as `Get-WorkTime`
`-Invariant`	New file with comma and dot instead of the regional settings.	off
`-PassThru`	Also output the exported rows.	off
`-WhatIf`	Show what would be appended, without writing.

The event logs themselves can also keep more history (admin). This complements the export but does not replace it:

wevtutil set-log System /ms:104857600                                  # System log: 100 MB
wevtutil set-log Microsoft-Windows-Winlogon/Operational /ms:20971520   # lock/unlock log (-IncludeLock): 20 MB

The lock/unlock log is small by default (1 MB) and may only cover a few weeks.

Limitations

Only the history kept in the event logs is available (see Keeping more history). A warning is shown if the System log does not reach back to the start of the requested range.
Idle is logged when the screen turns off, i.e. after the display timeout. The actual break started that much earlier.
A system that is never switched off (e.g. a VM or server) shows 00:00-24:00 every day.
Without -IncludeIdle, a notebook left open overnight (screen off, but not hibernating) counts as work time until it is used again.
Durations are real elapsed time, also across a daylight saving change. On those days WorkTime can differ from end minus start as shown: a day running through has 25 h (clocks back) or 23 h (clocks forward), a session 01:30-03:30 lasts 3 h or 1 h.

Screenshots

Daily summary view

Shows one row per day with:

first system start
last system end
total WorkTime (sum of all sessions, without the detected breaks)
Overall time span (first start to last end)

Detailed session view (`-All`)

Shows the individual sessions with start time, end time, WorkTime and how each one started and ended.

Single day with locks and idle (`-Date`, `-IncludeLock`, `-IncludeIdle`)

Locking the workstation and the screen turning off after inactivity also end a session; short ones (up to 15 minutes, -BreakMinutes) count as work time. In this example:

a short lock at 09:40 (7 minutes) does not split the first session
10:30-11:05: meeting, workstation locked
12:09-12:53: lunch, locked and lid closed; the session starts again at the unlock, not when the lid was opened
15:05-15:38: screen turned off after inactivity (Idle)

Overtime against a daily target (`-TargetHours`)

Balance is the work time of the day minus the target (here 8:24), Total the running balance. With -IncludeLock, locked breaks are not counted as work time.

Weekly totals with target (`-Summary Week`)

One row per ISO week with days worked, total and average work time, target and balance. With -BreakMinutes 40, locks of up to 40 minutes (e.g. a short meeting) count as work time; lunch with the lid closed is still a break. The weekend in week 09 has no target, so it counts fully as overtime.

Statistics and chart (`Measure-WorkTime`, `-View Chart`)

Statistics of the last 14 days (today is not included while it is still running) and the work time per week of the last 63 days as a bar chart.

Name		Name	Last commit message	Last commit date
images		images
Get-WorkTime.Format.ps1xml		Get-WorkTime.Format.ps1xml
Get-WorkTime.psd1		Get-WorkTime.psd1
Get-WorkTime.psm1		Get-WorkTime.psm1
LICENSE		LICENSE
README.md		README.md

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Get-WorkTime

Features

Requirements

Installation

Manual installation

Automatic

Usage

Basics

Breaks

Totals and overtime

Processing the output

Date input

Your own defaults

Statistics and charts

Parameters (`Get-WorkTime`)

Output

Start and end types

Keeping more history (`Export-WorkTime`)

Limitations

Screenshots

Daily summary view

Detailed session view (`-All`)

Single day with locks and idle (`-Date`, `-IncludeLock`, `-IncludeIdle`)

Overtime against a daily target (`-TargetHours`)

Weekly totals with target (`-Summary Week`)

Statistics and chart (`Measure-WorkTime`, `-View Chart`)

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Repository files navigation

Get-WorkTime

Features

Requirements

Installation

Manual installation

Automatic

Usage

Basics

Breaks

Totals and overtime

Processing the output

Date input

Your own defaults

Statistics and charts

Parameters (Get-WorkTime)

Output

Start and end types

Keeping more history (Export-WorkTime)

Limitations

Screenshots

Daily summary view

Detailed session view (-All)

Single day with locks and idle (-Date, -IncludeLock, -IncludeIdle)

Overtime against a daily target (-TargetHours)

Weekly totals with target (-Summary Week)

Statistics and chart (Measure-WorkTime, -View Chart)

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Parameters (`Get-WorkTime`)

Keeping more history (`Export-WorkTime`)

Detailed session view (`-All`)

Single day with locks and idle (`-Date`, `-IncludeLock`, `-IncludeIdle`)

Overtime against a daily target (`-TargetHours`)

Weekly totals with target (`-Summary Week`)

Statistics and chart (`Measure-WorkTime`, `-View Chart`)