Pausing & signing out

Two controls on the tracker can stop a session: Pause and Sign out. Whether either is available depends on the organisation's desktop policy.

Pause

Pause stops the current recording session immediately. The already-recorded data uploads, the screen capture stops, and the microphone (if it was open for a meeting) closes.

Press Play again to start a new session.

Pause is the right tool for:

• A genuine break — coffee, lunch, errand.
• A short personal task you don't want logged.
• Working on something covered by a contract that forbids third-party software recording the screen.

When Pause is disabled

If your manager has turned on Force tracking to be on while the app is open, the Pause button is greyed out and a tooltip explains why. In that case your only options are:

• Quit the app entirely (if your policy allows — see Sign out below).
• Talk to your manager about a one-off exception.

Sign out

Sign out disconnects the tracker from your ScreenJournal account. It does not delete any local recordings — they remain on disk until they hit retention limits.

After signing out:

• The tracker shows the sign-in screen again.
• No new activity is recorded.
• You can sign back in with the same credentials at any time.

Use sign-out when:

• You're handing the computer to someone else temporarily.
• You want a hard break from monitoring (vacation, off-day).
• IT is troubleshooting.

When Sign out is disabled

If your manager has turned on Prevent employees from signing out, the Sign-out button is greyed out. In that case:

• The only way to release the tracker from your account is for an admin to authorise a one-time sign-out with their own email and password in the tracker's settings.
• This setting exists for orgs that need to guarantee the same account stays signed in on a specific device (e.g. shared workstations, dedicated machines).

Quitting the app

The Quit menu item in your tray / menu-bar menu fully closes the tracker.

If your manager has turned on Force the app to always run:

• The Quit menu item is greyed out.
• The tracker also auto-launches at login, so even rebooting the machine won't get it to stay closed.
• An admin can authorise a one-time shutdown with their credentials when truly needed.

Combining the three

The strictest combination — Force tracking on, Prevent sign out, Force the app to always run — means the tracker runs continuously and the only way to break that loop is for an admin to enter their credentials. Most orgs do not enable all three; if yours has, your manager should have explained why.

If you don't know what your org's policy is, ask your manager — they can show you exactly which switches are on. Nothing about the policy is hidden from employees.