ActivTrak Screenshots Guide
Screenshots provide a clear image of user activity on computers running the ActivTrak Agent. With visual records, it's easy to see what happened and when, the intent behind user actions, and gain insights into how teams work. Screenshots should be used sparsely, and only on an as-needed basis.
Learn more about:
- Screenshot requirements
- Creating screenshot alarms
- New Activity Screenshot alarm
- Redacting screenshots
- Searching for specific screenshots
- Deleting screenshots
- Disabling screenshots
- Screenshot troubleshooting
- Screenshot FAQ
Screenshot requirements
All screenshots are triggered by alarms. The ability to configure screenshot alarms has different requirements based on your plan type:
Plan | Requirement |
Free | not available |
Essentials | Screen Details Add-on purchased |
Essentials Plus | Screen Details Add-on purchased |
Professional | Screen Details Add-on purchased |
Advanced (legacy) | Sensitive Data Visibility set to "Full Details" |
Premium (legacy) | Sensitive Data Visibility set to "Full Details" |
Note: Once the above requirements are met, screenshots are still off by default until a screenshot alarm is created and enabled.
Creating screenshot alarms
Alarms require a type, condition(s), and action(s). Use this detailed guide to better understand alarms and how to create your own.
Screen captures are one of the six main actions that can be set for alarms if the conditions are met:
You can choose to capture a single screenshot, or multiple screenshots until the user changes activities. The 'Multiple Screenshots' option will require you to enter a frequency of at least 10 seconds:
In the example above, the agent will continue to take screenshots every 10 seconds until there is a new active window.
Note: There is a 100 screenshot limit per activity, so for long activities without a window change and/or a high frequency of captures, screenshots may cut off "early".
New Activity Screenshot alarm
The New Activity Screenshot alarm is only available out-of-the-box to customers with accounts created before May 29, 2024 and meeting the requirements listed above. The out-of-the-box alarm triggers one screenshot when any user has been active on a new activity for at least 20 seconds. This often generates a very high volume of screenshots and we typically suggest adding more conditions if you choose to use it.
If your account does not have this alarm and you want to create it, the configuration is listed below. For a detailed step-by-step guide of how to create a custom alarm, refer to this guide.
- Alarm Type: Activity
- Selected Groups: All Users and Computers (or, choose a specific group(s) to tighten the scope)
- Conditions: Match Any, Duration (seconds) Greater Than 20 (or, choose Match All and add fields such as a specific user or a specific url to tighten the scope)
- Actions: toggle 'Capture screenshots when the alarm is triggered' and choose single or multiple. Add other actions as desired, but keep in mind if your scope is too large, something like an email notification may flood your inbox.
Redacting screenshots
Screenshot redaction sends captured images through an algorithm that covers certain sensitive information with a dark line, restricting its visibility. Redaction is currently only available to legacy accounts who have previously had it enabled on the account. We no longer provide screenshot redaction as an add-on option. If your account already has Screenshot Redaction, learn more here.
Searching for specific screenshots
Depending on the scope of your screenshot alarms, looking through all captured screenshots can become overwhelming. Save time and effort by filtering screenshots. On Alarms > Screenshots > History, narrow down your search using the date or group filters in the top left. You can also expand the 'Filter Screenshots' section by clicking the plus sign on the right, which opens additional options. The example below shows a narrow search of screenshots only from the SDR team in which the URL contains "claude" within the Last 7 Days:
Deleting screenshots
WARNING: We cannot recover screenshots once they are deleted.
To delete screenshots, navigate to Alarms > Screenshots > History and select the individual screenshots you would like to delete, or select one page at a time by clicking 'Select All'.
Next, click on the 'Delete Selected Screenshots' button in the upper right. You will be prompted to confirm the screenshots you would like to delete by checking "I confirm I want to delete (#) selected screenshots." Then click the 'Delete Selected Screenshots' button within the pop-up:
Note: Deleting all screenshots at once is not available. However, up to 510 screenshots can be shown per page, allowing the bulk deletion of 510 screenshots at a time. If you have such a large number of screenshots needing deletion that this action is unreasonable, please contact Support.
Disabling screenshots
Screenshots are disabled by default. If screenshots were enabled for your account and you have changed your mind, you can disable screenshots by navigating to Alarms > Configuration.
Alarms that have the screen capture action enabled will show an icon in the "Screen Captures" column. In the example below, the column has been filtered to show all alarms configured to take a single screenshot.
To turn off an alarm completely, adjust its toggle in the leftmost "Status" column; blue / to the right is enabled and gray / to the left is disabled. In the example above, the "Firefox" alarm has screenshots as its only action, so it can be toggled off.
To keep an alarm enabled but remove the screenshot action, click the Edit button. In the example above, the "CNN" alarm has other actions such as an email notification and pop-up that you may still wish to trigger, so instead of toggling it off completely, you can toggle off only the screen captures while keeping the other actions and save the alarm.
It will take a few minutes for the agent to update with any configuration changes.
Screenshot troubleshooting
If you are unable to view Screenshots, there are a variety of reasons why:
1a. Screen Details Add-on not purchased (Essentials, Essentials Plus and Professional Plans)
Essentials, Essentials Plus and Professional Plans require the Screen Details Add-on in order to have the ability to take screenshots. Contact ActivTrak Sales to purchase.
1b. Sensitive Data Visibility setting (Advanced and Premium Plans, and Professional Trials)
Advanced and Premium Plans, and Professional Trials, require Sensitive Data Visibility set to "Full Details" in order to have the ability to take screenshots. Admins can confirm or adjust this setting by navigating to Settings > Account Configuration. When set to anything other than "Full Details", the ability to take screenshots is not available for the account. Learn more about Data Privacy Controls here.
Sensitive Data Visibility options for an Advanced or Premium Plan.
Sensitive Data Visibility options for a Professional Trial.
2. Screenshot alarm(s) not enabled
By default, screenshots are turned off, even if you have purchased Screen Details or set Sensitive Data Visibility to "Full Details". To get started, navigate to Alarms > Configuration and try turning on one of the out-of-the-box alarms available in your account. You can also create new alarms. Alarms are enabled when the button on the far left is blue. You will see a screenshot icon next to any alarm that is configured to take screenshots.
3. Duration condition is too high
Each time the active window changes to a different website or application, a timer restarts and alarm conditions are rechecked. If the duration condition is not short enough, the conditions may not be met before the active window changes and a screenshot will not trigger. We usually do not advise setting initial screenshot durations higher than one minute, which is a Value of 60.
4. Filters
Under Alarms > Screenshots > History you have the option at the top to filter the screenshots. Sometimes however, there may not be any data to match the filters applied. Make sure your filters are set properly to a date range when screenshots would have been taken (for example, a working day and not a weekend), and that your selected user, computer, or group has a screenshot alarm turned on.
5. Account has exceeded license limit
Paid accounts have an agreed number of licenses. If this amount is exceeded past the grace period, data will still be collected, but screenshots and reports will not be viewable until users are removed or more licenses are purchased. You may notice a banner at the top of your account:
Note that deleting a user or computer will only delete the historical data collected unless you have also uninstalled ActivTrak from the user's computer. If the agent is not uninstalled, a deleted user or computer will show back up in the dashboard with new data, using a license again once the user is active. To stop collecting data for a user and prevent them from using a license, either place them on the Do Not Track list (best if multiple users share their computer or if you only want to stop tracking the user temporarily), or, if no other users need to be tracked on that computer, uninstall the agent.
6. Old version of the agent
Verify that the computer you cannot see screenshots for is on the latest agent version. You can check this in the Agent Version column on the page Settings > Users & Groups > Computer Agents. If running an outdated version, an Admin can download a new Agent directly from the Dashboard, as that will always host the most recent version.
7. Antivirus and firewall settings
If there is security software such as antivirus or a firewall in place for the monitored machines, it may be causing a conflict. Please review this article on whitelisting.
8. PC - unblock setting
On a PC, you may need to make sure the unblock property is set correctly for the installation file. Refer to these instructions.
9. Screenshot backlogs
Screenshots backlogs can occur if the internet connection is slow or lost. Screenshots then build up on a computer and it takes some time for them to upload when the connection is regained. Screenshots may also be triggering faster than they are able to upload; if backlogs are occurring frequently, it can help to decrease the frequency of the alarms taking screenshots (for example every 20 seconds instead of 10), and to ensure that you don't have multiple alarms enabled and triggering for the same activity.
If you are not part of the Agent Health Status Beta, a member of our support team can help confirm if there is a backlog on the computer in question. If you have access to the computer, we can also help you check the local folders where screenshots are held prior to upload. For computers with a backlog, it is a good idea to restart the machines and then leave them powered on overnight or during off-work hours so they have a chance to catch up and clear out the backlog.
10. Mac - screenshots only contain desktop background
If you are collecting screenshots for a mac user and you can only see their desktop background rather than the actual applications on their screen, this is due to Apple's Security & Privacy settings and you will need to follow these instructions. After completed, restart either the agent or the machine itself for the new screenshot permissions to take effect.
Screenshot FAQ
How do screenshots work if a user has multiple monitors?
If multiple monitors are being used, they will all be visible in the screenshot.
What is the minimum amount of time allowed between multi-screenshots?
10 seconds
How do I configure an alarm to take random screenshots every X minutes throughout the workday?
There is no way to capture screenshots at regular intervals the whole time the user is logged in and working. This is because alarms are based on the active window, and each time a new site or application is accessed, the counter restarts and conditions are rechecked.
Is there anything important to know about macOS screen recording permissions?
Please refer to the following:
- FAQ: macOS screen recording permissions
- How to Deploy the ActivTrak Agent on macOS Sequoia: Complete Deployment Guide
Learn more:
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