Fix: Timeline Feature is not working in Windows 10

Windows 10 Timeline, part of Windows 10 Task View, shows the list of (history) of activities you’ve performed on your computer during the past weeks. Also, you can sync activities across your Windows 10 devices. You can then easily pick up where you left off. The ‘Timeline’ feature is part of Windows 10 April 2018 Update (aka. Spring Creators Update). When sync is enabled, Timeline can also work with your mobile apps (Microsoft account sign-in required). For example, an Office document you viewed on your mobile would show up in the Timeline on your Windows 10 computer.

windows 10 timeline feature

If the April 2018 Spring Creators Update’s Timeline feature doesn’t work, make sure that the feature is turned on.

  1. Open the Settings window [Winkey + i]
  2. Click Privacy and select Activity History.
    windows 10 timeline feature activity history privacy settings
  3. Enable these two options:
  • Let Windows collect my activities from this PC
  • Let Windows sync my activities from this PC to the cloud.

Note that turning on the sync option is optional, but enabling it provides atleast 2 more benefits.

windows 10 timeline feature taskview



For example, let’s say that you were editing a Word document on your PC, but you were unable to finish before you had to leave the office for the day.

  • If you selected the Let Windows collect my activities from this PC check box on the Activity history settings page, you would see that Word activity in your timeline the following day, and for the next several days, and from there, you could resume working on it.
  • If you selected the Let Windows sync my activities from this PC to the cloud check box and you were unable to finish before you had to leave the office for the day, not only would you see that Word activity in your timeline for up to 30 days, but you could also resume working on it later from another device.

That’s it! You’ve now enabled the Timeline feature in Windows 10.

[Video] Windows 10 Timeline: How to Use


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Ramesh Srinivasan is passionate about Microsoft technologies and he has been a consecutive ten-time recipient of the Microsoft Most Valuable Professional award in the Windows Shell/Desktop Experience category, from 2003 to 2012. He loves to troubleshoot and write about Windows. Ramesh founded Winhelponline.com in 2005.

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