1. Home
  2. Windows Tips
  3. Fix timeline not working windows 10

How To Fix Timeline Not Working On Windows 10

Timeline is one of the most anticipated features in the Windows 10 April Update. Microsoft announced this feature a long, long time ago and it only rolled out this year. This feature should work right out of the box if you’ve updated to the Spring Creators Update. Unfortunately, it doesn’t. It seems the feature, while showing up in the UI isn’t saving your activity. Here are a few things you can try to fix Timeline not working.

Timeline needs at least one day to gather your activity so if it hasn’t been 24 hours since you updated to the next major update, give it the right amount of time.

Check Timeline Is Enabled

Make sure Timeline is enabled i.e. it’s allowed to collect your activity history. Open the Settings app and go to the Privacy group of settings and select the Activity History tab.

Make sure that the ‘Let Windows collect my activities from this PC’ option is checked.

Clean Activity History

You might need to jumpstart Timeline, crazy as that sounds. Open the Settings app and go to the Privacy group of settings. Select the Activity History tab again, scroll down to the Clear activity history section, and click the Clear button. Do this even if Windows 10 hasn’t had time to collect your activity.

Switch Temporarily To A Local Account

This solution is a bit annoying but it does work. Open the Settings app and go to the Accounts group of settings. On the Your Info tab, click the ‘Sign in with a local account instead’ option. Switch to the local account and Timeline should start working.

You might want to stick to using a local account for a while before you switch back to a Microsoft account. Users report that switching to the local account will fix Timeline not working right away however, if it doesn’t fix the problem instantly, you may want to use your desktop for a while with just a local account. It may need some time to get going and once it does, you can switch back to your Microsoft account.

We should also mention that Timeline works with apps that support it. If your problem is that Timeline isn’t showing you all your apps, it may be because the app you’re hoping to see doesn’t support the new feature just yet. The stock apps all work so if you’re trying to check whether it’s the apps that are a problem, or the feature itself, use Edge for a while.

10 Comments

  1. Looks like settings/privacy/activity history options have changed to:

    Store my activity on this device

    Send my activity history to Microsoft

    I have/had both set on, but my timeline is empty and says “Use your PC to see your here”. Similar to what it did when it first came out. Has been working for a long time without a problem (1-3 years?). Recent windows security updates seem to have broken it. I’ve tried everything in this article plus adding 3 dword values to the registry suggested in another, but still no timeline and same annoying message where it used to be.
    I also seemed to be having a problem with a desktop app that accesses my camera, and the wording and options there also seem to have changed. I flipped the options a few times and the program was able to view the camera although the camera configuration setup for the app was still not able to see any cameras. The new privacy has option for on/off then windows store apps on/off with store apps listed with individual apps having on/off setting, then desktop apps option with no way to set an individual program and a note saying these programs should not be affected by the setting. But I could see it listing the activity w/timestamp of the app in question, so it seems obvious that the setting is doing something. If the setting is not doing anything to these apps, why have a switch for these apps?
    I believe most of these modifications are to promote cross device settings like google/chrome does except with the new edge browser and Cortana.
    Even after switching to local account when I go to manage activity option in privacy/activity it took me to website using chrome(default) and asked for my MS account password to sign in. So I copied address to edge and it ask me to insert a USB key to sign in, something which I do not have and have never had or used. So weird !

  2. In case you want sports — basketball, golf or maybe walking — select the finest Eklegein Shoes.
    If you usually do either of the, the feet are not designed
    in contact with the ground in the center
    from the heel. The most significant lesson a man can learn would be to know what type of shoe
    complements what clothing.

  3. If not, an individual always has the option for searching elsewhere
    to the coverage you will need at an affordable price.
    In addition to the hassle of extra fees that must be paid, the comparison that brokers offer ask
    you to set off and sit in the insurance or broker office for your time-consuming process.
    The information will likely be placed into the device and checked
    when a driver is pulled over for inspection, or when renewing tags and making changes inside the ownership in the vehicle.

  4. May I simply say what a comfort to find someone who really understands what they are talking about on the web.

    You definitely realize how to bring an issue to light and make it important.
    More and more people have to read this and understand
    this side of the story. I was surprised you aren’t
    more popular given that you surely possess the gift.

  5. Fatima Wahab, Thank you! My Timeline stopped working when I switched to “Slow Ring” Build 17744.rs5_release 180818-1845. It would not let me remove tiles from today, they just “greyed out” and would clear at all. Went through several voo-doo sequences to try to get it to work, all to no avail. I was seconds away from reverting back to the previous build. The switching to “Local Account” then back worked beautifully! Can’t Thank you enough!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.