How to Keep a Private Work Journal on Windows in 2026 (Written From Your Day, No Typing)

You can keep a work journal on Windows without writing it. Off Grid AI Desktop (OGAD) Pro saves moments from your screen while you work, and a local model on your PC turns them into a short entry for each day, in the first person, with every sentence linked to the moment it came from.

It's for the Friday when you can't remember what you did on Tuesday, and for the weekly update you'd otherwise rebuild from memory. Nothing is uploaded, because the screenshots and the journal stay on your PC, and so does the model that writes it.

Get Pro for $119 once · Download Off Grid AI

What you need

• A 64-bit Windows PC with OGAD 0.0.56 or later. Download it for Windows.
• Off Grid AI Pro. Pro is already built into the Windows app, so there's no second download. Enter your licence key and click Activate, and the Pro screens open in place. Pro is $119 once, or $7.99 a month.
• A local vision model, downloaded in Models. On a Mac, OGAD can also read the text apps expose on screen. On Windows it reads the screenshot itself, so it needs a model that can see.
• A local text model to write the journal. If none is ready, the Journal says "Writing it needs a text model" and gives you a Get a model link.

Windows asks for no screen permission and no administrator password for any of this.

What it saves, and what it doesn't

Capture is off until you turn it on. Once it's on, OGAD takes a screenshot of the screen you're working on and notes the app name and window title. It does this at most once every 20 seconds for each app. It isn't a video recording, and it doesn't log keystrokes.

A local model then reads each moment and writes a line about it: the app, what you were working on and who it involved. Those lines become the Timeline in Day, and the journal is written from them. Durations and times come straight from the saved moments, never from the model's guess.

You choose what never gets saved. In Replay, click the gear (Capture settings) and add apps under Excluded apps. When one of those apps is in front, OGAD saves no screen image. Off Grid AI itself is on the list from the start.

Step 1: Turn on capture

1. Open OGAD and click Replay in the sidebar.
2. The capture status reads Paused. Click Resume capture.
3. The first time, OGAD asks "When should Off Grid analyze your day?" Pick one:
   • Overnight (recommended): "Analysis runs 3:00–8:00 and can wake it." Your PC stays fast while you work.
   • As it happens: "Your day appears as you go, using some power while you work."
4. The status changes to Capturing. Work as usual.

If you pick Overnight, OGAD adds a task to Windows Task Scheduler called Off Grid AI night processing, with "Wake the computer to run this task" turned on. There's no prompt. The task only wakes the PC at the start of the window, and OGAD does the analysis. Windows also needs Allow wake timers on in Power Options, which it is by default on mains power. A laptop should stay plugged in overnight.

You can change your choice later in Settings, on the Analyze row.

Step 2: Read your journal in Day

Click Day in the sidebar. The Journal block sits above Time spent and Timeline.

After each analysis run, OGAD writes the journal for every day in the past week that has none yet, or whose moments have changed since it was written. With overnight analysis, yesterday's entry is waiting when you open Day in the morning.

The entry is up to eight plain sentences, in the first person and the past tense, such as what you drafted, who you talked to and what you moved forward. The model is told to write only what the saved moments show. It doesn't invent feelings or plans, and editing something isn't written up as fixing it.

Next to each sentence there's a small list icon, Where this came from. Click it and Replay opens at the moment that sentence rests on, so you can check any line in one click.

To read another day, use the arrows beside Today at the top. Click Today to come back.

Step 3: Write today's entry now

On a day with overnight analysis, the Journal says "Writes after tonight's analysis." Click Write it now and OGAD writes today's entry from what it has analyzed so far. Your own request never waits for tonight's window.

If some of today's moments haven't been analyzed yet, Day shows how many are waiting, with an Analyze now button. Click it first, then Write it now, to include them.

When the day changes after you've read the entry, click Refresh summary (the circular arrow at the top right of the Journal) to rewrite it from the latest moments.

When the Journal is empty

The Journal always says why it has no entry and what to do next:

• "Writes after tonight's analysis." Overnight analysis hasn't run yet. Click Write it now.
• "Capture is paused, so it writes when capture resumes." Resume capture in Replay, or click Write it now.
• "Writing it needs a text model." Click Get a model and download one.
• "Nothing was captured this day to write about." Capture was off or paused all day.

Turn the journal into a weekly update

Seven days of entries are the raw notes for a weekly update. Step back through the week with the arrows and copy the lines that matter, and use Where this came from to check any line before it goes to your manager. The weekly update guide for Windows walks through it.

FAQ

Is there an app that writes a work journal for me on Windows?
Yes. Off Grid AI Desktop Pro saves moments from your screen while capture is on, and a local model on your PC writes a short journal entry for each day in the Day view. You don't type anything.

Does it record video of my screen?
No. It saves a screenshot with the app name and window title, at most once every 20 seconds for each app. A local model reads those moments and writes the journal from them.

Does my work journal leave my PC?
No. The screenshots stay on your disk and the model runs on your PC, so neither the moments nor the journal are uploaded. Internet is needed only to download the app and the model.

Can I get today's journal before tonight?
Yes. With overnight analysis on, the Journal says it writes after tonight's analysis. Click Write it now and it writes the entry from what has been analyzed so far.

What do I need to run it on Windows?
A 64-bit Windows PC, Off Grid AI Desktop 0.0.56 or later and an Off Grid AI Pro licence. You also need a local vision model, because on Windows the model reads each screenshot to know what you were doing.

Related guides

• How to Create a Private Work Journal From Your Mac Activity in 2026 (No Manual Logging)
• How to Create a Private Work Journal From Your Linux Desktop Activity in 2026
• Best Automatic Time Trackers That Need No Timers in 2026 (Private, Your Day Stays on Your Computer)
• A Private Microsoft Recall Alternative on Windows in 2026 (Local AI Reviews Your Day Overnight)

Get Off Grid AI Pro and find yesterday's journal waiting in Day tomorrow morning, written on your own PC.