Windows 10时间线(Timeline)旨在通过允许您快速恢复以前在您的Microsoft帐户上启动的任务来改进您的工作流程。搜索您上周编辑的那些文件的日子已经结束，因为 Windows时间线(Timeline)会为您记住它们，并允许您一键访问它们。您可以在任何设备上执行此操作，只要它已连接到您的Microsoft帐户。阅读本教程以了解有关Windows 10 时间轴(Timeline)以及如何充分利用它的更多信息：
注意：(NOTE:)提供的功能在Windows 2020 年 5 月 10 日更新(Windows 10 May 2020 Update)或更新版本中可用。如果您使用的是旧版本的Windows 10，您可能无法访问所有功能。检查您的 Windows 10 版本(Check your Windows 10 build)，并在必要时获取可用的最新 Windows 10 更新(latest Windows 10 update)。
什么是 Windows 10 时间线？
Windows 10时间线(Timeline)是您过去 30 天在连接到您的Microsoft帐户的所有设备上的活动历史记录。除了允许您从上次中断的地方继续工作之外，此功能还使最近访问的文件更容易找到。例如，您可以在家用台式 PC 上打开Microsoft Word文档，关闭文件，然后在 Windows 10 笔记本电脑上继续处理它，只要文档保存在OneDrive 云(OneDrive cloud)中即可。在 Windows 10 中，时间轴(Timeline)和虚拟桌面(virtual desktops)是任务视图(Task View)的一部分，增强了功能并使多任务处理更容易，无论您使用多少台设备。
您可以在Windows 10 PC、笔记本电脑和平板电脑以及Android和 iOS 设备上使用时间轴。(Timeline)虽然 Windows时间线(Timeline)不会记录Windows 10中的每个应用程序，因为并非所有应用程序都支持该功能，但它确实适用于Windows 10中的(Windows 10)Microsoft应用程序。我们已经看到它记录了我们在Word、Excel、PowerPoint、Publisher、Microsoft Edge、Photos、Notepad和VLC Media Player中的活动，但没有从Firefox、Screenpresso、Spotify和其他第三方应用程序。但是，未来提供时间轴(Timeline)支持的应用程序列表可能会增加。
这给我们带来了 Windows时间轴(Timeline)的主要缺点：我们找不到阻止它监视特定应用程序的方法。从隐私的角度来看，这是不利的，因为有些人可能不希望在他们访问的视频、照片或网站时跟踪他们的历史记录。但是，如果您不希望Microsoft知道您的历史记录，您可以决定不(NOT)启用跨设备的活动同步。
如何在Windows 10中启用(Windows 10)时间轴(Timeline)
默认情况下，时间轴(Timeline)应在Windows 10中启用。如果您不是这种情况，或者您想检查其状态，请打开设置(open Settings)并单击或点击隐私(Privacy)。
在窗口左侧，选择Activity history选项卡，您可以看到右侧显示的Timeline相关设置。(Timeline)
要在 Windows 10 设备上使用时间轴(Timeline)功能，您必须选中“在此设备上存储我的活动历史记录”("Store my activity history on this device")选项旁边的框。
然后，再往下，在“显示这些帐户的活动”("Show activities from these accounts")部分中，打开要在 Windows 时间轴中显示其活动的帐户旁边的(On)开关(Timeline)。您必须从设备上可用的用户帐户中选择至少一个用户帐户，时间线(Timeline)会记录并显示您连接到该帐户时的活动。
要了解有关此页面上设置的更多信息并关闭该功能，请阅读我们关于在 Windows 10 中禁用时间轴(disabling Timeline in Windows 10)的文章。
如何在多台设备上开启时间线(Timeline)同步
时间线(Timeline)通过同步您的活动，帮助您在另一台设备上继续在Windows 10计算机上开始的工作。(Windows 10)如果您希望当前使用的 PC 上的应用程序和窗口显示在您的其他Windows 10设备上，请选中(Windows 10)“将我的活动历史记录发送给 Microsoft”("Send my activity history to Microsoft")选项旁边的框。
如何在Windows 10中访问(Windows 10)时间轴(Timeline)
Windows 10时间线(Timeline)与任务视图(Task View)集成。有更多方法可以访问该功能，我们在教程中介绍了所有方法Windows 10 中的任务视图是什么以及如何使用它(What is Task View in Windows 10 and how to use it)，但我们发现使用键盘快捷键Windows + Tab最简单。任务视图(Task view)屏幕打开，您可以在打开的窗口下看到“今天早些时候”(Earlier Today)部分 - 您可能需要向下滚动才能显示它。这是时间线(Timeline)开始的地方。
如何在Windows 10(Windows 10)中浏览您的时间线(Timeline)和过去的活动
时间轴(Timeline)显示您过去在当前 Windows 10 计算机和其他同步设备上的活动的历史记录。您过去的活动显示为图块，其封面是文件标题或相应文件、文档或应用程序的屏幕截图。用于活动的应用程序显示在其左上角，而在右上角，您可以看到访问它的设备 - 如果它与您现在使用的计算机不同。
使用鼠标滚轮或右侧的滚动条来导航您的时间轴(Timeline)（或上下滑动，如果您使用的是触摸屏）。滚动条带有您记录的时间线(Timeline)活动的日期注释，便于访问特定日期记录的项目。
如果您更喜欢键盘，箭头键可让您在时间轴(Timeline)中移动活动。按任意箭头导航您的活动，在您浏览时突出显示项目。
如果您滚动浏览Timeline，您可以看到您的活动按时间倒序显示。
在今天早些时候(Earlier Today)和昨天(Yesterday)部分之后，Windows时间线(Timeline)开始使用日期标题来组织您的活动。
向下滚动时，您可以在时间轴(Timeline)上看到每天最多显示两行活动，但项目的数量取决于您的屏幕大小。如果某一天记录的项目超过两行，时间轴(Timeline)会显示最相关的项目 - 热门活动，在日期旁边显示“查看所有 X 活动”链接，其中("See all X activities")X是当时跟踪的实际事件数。单击(Click)或点击链接。
这将打开当天所有活动的日志，按小时组织，也按时间倒序排列。单击或点击屏幕顶部的“仅查看热门活动”("See only top activities")链接，您将返回到时间线的(Timeline's)默认视图，您可以从您选择展开的那一天继续。
如何在时间轴中搜索过去的活动
Windows 10时间线(Timeline)还允许您搜索过去的活动。如果您要查找过去的文档或文件，但不确定日期，则可以更轻松地进行搜索。单击或点击(Click)时间轴(Timeline)右上角、滚动条顶部的放大镜搜索按钮，或按键盘上的(Search)Ctrl+F开始查找活动。
这将打开搜索框，您可以在其中插入要查找的活动的名称或部分名称。如果您不记得文件的名称，请输入用于活动的应用程序以帮助缩小搜索范围。结果显示在屏幕左侧，按您处理该文件或文档的日期分组。
如何从Windows 10 时间线打开活动(Timeline)
找到要继续的活动后，最简单的方法是单击或点击其磁贴以访问它。您还可以使用箭头键选择一个项目，然后按键盘上的Enter以恢复它。另一种选择是右键单击或按住活动以显示上下文菜单，然后单击或点击打开(Open)。
Windows 10 会重新打开相应的应用程序并加载相同的内容，让您从离开的位置恢复活动。
如何从您的时间线中删除一个活动或一组活动
有时，可能出于隐私原因，您可能希望从Windows 10(Windows 10) 时间轴(Timeline)中删除特定活动甚至整个活动组。右键单击或按住任何事件以打开上下文菜单，然后按Remove。
要从您的时间线(Timeline)中删除整组活动，请导航到该组，右键单击或按住其中的任何活动，然后单击或点击“从 [组名称] 中清除所有”("Clear all from [group name]")选项底部。您可以在特定日期执行此操作，如上面的屏幕截图所示 - “从 6 月 17("Clear all from June 17)日起全部清除” - 以删除该日期的所有内容。最重要的是，如果您想对众多活动进行微观管理，您可以展开一天以查看按小时排序的活动，然后清除该特定时间的所有项目，如下所示 - “从晚上 7:00 开始清除所有("Clear all from 7:00 PM)。"
此选项会一次删除您的许多活动，因此在您的活动从Windows 10 时间线(Timeline)中清除之前，系统会要求您确认您的选择。
从时间轴(Timeline)中删除活动不会以任何方式影响文件或与其关联的应用程序。该项目只是从显示的活动列表中删除。
Windows 10 时间线(Timeline)对您有用吗？
(Timeline)如果您使用多个设备并希望无缝地继续您的项目，Timeline可以为您节省宝贵的时间。这也是查找放错位置的文件并返回之前打开的文档或网站的好方法。然而，它还有很长的路要走：要真正提高生产力，我们希望看到记录更多应用程序活动的选项，而对我们选择的应用程序完全禁用跟踪的能力将有助于解决我们的隐私问题。你怎么看？您觉得Windows 10 时间轴(Timeline)有用吗？有什么你想看到的改进吗？请在下面的评论中告诉我们。
The Windows 10 Timeline and how to make the most of it
The Windows 10 Timeline is meant to improve your workflow by allowing you to quickly resume tasks previously started on your Microsoft account. The days of searching for those files you edited last week are over, because the Windows Timeline remembers them for you and lets you access them with one click or tap. And you can do that on any device, as long as it's connected to your Microsoft account. Read this tutorial to learn more about the Windows 10 Timeline and how to make the most of it:
NOTE: The features presented are available in Windows 10 May 2020 Update or newer. If you are using an older version of Windows 10, you might not have access to all the features. Check your Windows 10 build and, if necessary, get the latest Windows 10 update available.
What is the Windows 10 Timeline?
The Windows 10 Timeline is a history of your activities for the last 30 days on all the devices connected to your Microsoft account. On top of allowing you to resume work from where you left off, this feature also makes recently accessed files easier to find. For instance, you can open Microsoft Word document on your home desktop PC, close the file, and then continue working on it from your Windows 10 laptop, as long as the document is saved in the OneDrive cloud. In Windows 10, Timeline and the virtual desktops are part of the Task View, enhancing the feature and making multitasking easier, regardless of how many devices you're using.
You can use the Timeline on Windows 10 PCs, laptops, and tablets, as well as on Android and iOS devices. While the Windows Timeline doesn't log every app in Windows 10, because not all of them offer support for the feature, it does work well with the Microsoft apps found in Windows 10. We have seen it record our activities from Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Publisher, Microsoft Edge, Photos, Notepad, and VLC Media Player, but nothing from Firefox, Screenpresso, Spotify, and other third-party apps. However, the list of apps that offer support for Timeline might grow in the future.
This brings us to the main downside to the Windows Timeline: we could not find a way to stop it from monitoring a particular app. That is a negative from a privacy perspective, as some people might not want their history tracked when it comes to the videos, photos, or websites they are accessing. However, if you do not want Microsoft to know your history, you can decide NOT to turn on the synchronization of your activities across devices.
How to enable the Timeline in Windows 10
The Timeline should be enabled by default in Windows 10. If that is not the case for you, or if you want to check its status, open Settings and click or tap on Privacy.
On the left side of the window, select the Activity history tab, and you can see Timeline related settings displayed on the right.
To use the Timeline feature on your Windows 10 device, you have to check the box next to the "Store my activity history on this device" option.
Then, further down, in the "Show activities from these accounts" section, turn On the switch next to the account(s) whose activities you want to be displayed in your Windows Timeline. You have to select at least one user account from the ones available on your device, and the Timeline records and shows your activities while connected to that account.
To learn more about the settings on this page and turn off the feature, read our article on disabling Timeline in Windows 10.
How to turn on Timeline syncing on multiple devices
Timeline helps you continue the work started on your Windows 10 computer on another device by syncing your activities. If you want apps and windows from the PC you are currently using to be shown on your other Windows 10 devices, check the box next to the "Send my activity history to Microsoft" option.
How to access the Timeline in Windows 10
The Windows 10 Timeline is integrated with the Task View. There are more ways to access the feature, and we go through all of them in our tutorial What is Task View in Windows 10 and how to use it, but we find it easiest to use the keyboard shortcut Windows + Tab. The Task view screen opens, and you can see an Earlier Today section under your open windows - you might have to scroll down to reveal it. This is where the Timeline starts.
How to browse through your Timeline and past activities in Windows 10
The Timeline shows a history of your past activities, both on your current Windows 10 computer and on other synced devices. Your past activities are displayed as tiles, and their covers are either file titles or screenshots from the corresponding files, documents, or apps. The app used for an activity is displayed in its top-left corner, while, on the upper-right, you can see the device that accessed it - if it's a different one from the computer you're on right now.
Use the mouse wheel or the scrollbar on the right side to navigate your Timeline (or swipe up and down, if you're using a touchscreen). The scrollbar is annotated with the dates of your recorded Timeline activities, facilitating access to the items logged on a specific day.
If you prefer the keyboard, the arrow keys let you move through the activities in your Timeline. Press on any of the arrows to navigate your activities, highlighting items as you browse.
If you scroll through the Timeline, you can see your activities are shown in reverse chronological order.
After the Earlier Today and Yesterday sections, the Windows Timeline starts using date headers to organize your activities.
As you scroll down, you can see up to two rows of activities displayed for each day on your Timeline, but the number of items depends on your screen size. If there are more than two rows of items logged for a certain day, Timeline shows the most relevant ones - top activities, displaying a "See all X activities" link next to the date, where X is the actual number of events tracked then. Click or tap on the link.
This opens a log of all the activities for that day, organized by hours, also in reverse chronological order. Clicking or tapping on the "See only top activities" link at the top of the screen returns you to Timeline's default view, where you can continue from the day you chose to expand.
How to search for past activities in your Timeline
The Windows 10 Timeline also lets you search for past activities. If you're looking for a document or a file from the past, but you're not sure about the date, it can be easier to search for it. Click or tap on the magnifying glass Search button in the upper-right corner of the Timeline, on top of the scrollbar, or press Ctrl+F on your keyboard to start looking for an activity.
This opens the search box, where you insert the name or part of the name of the activity you want to find. If you can't remember the file's name, type in the app used for the activity to help narrow down the search. The results are displayed on the left side of the screen, grouped by the dates when you worked on that file or document.
How to open an activity from the Windows 10 Timeline
Once you locate the activity you want to continue, it's easiest to click or tap on its tile to access it. You can also select an item with the arrow keys and press Enter on your keyboard to resume it. Another alternative is to right-click or press-and-hold on the activity to reveal a contextual menu, and then click or tap on Open.
Windows 10 reopens the corresponding application and loads the same content, letting you resume your activity from where you left it.
How to remove an activity or a group of activities from your Timeline
Sometimes, perhaps for privacy reasons, you might want to remove a particular activity or even a whole group of activities from the Windows 10 Timeline. Right-click or press-and-hold on any event to open a contextual menu, and then press Remove.
To remove a whole group of activities from your Timeline, navigate to that group, right-click or press-and-hold on any activity in it, and then click or tap on the "Clear all from [group name]" option at the bottom. You can do that for specific days, as seen in the screenshot above - "Clear all from June 17," - to remove everything from that date. On top of that, if you like to micromanage your numerous activities, you can expand a day to see activities sorted by hour, and then clear all the items from that specific time, as seen below - "Clear all from 7:00 PM."
This option removes many of your activities at once, so you are asked to confirm your choice before your activities are cleared from the Windows 10 Timeline.
Removing an activity from the Timeline does not affect in any way the file or the application associated with it. The item is simply removed from the list of activities displayed.
Is the Windows 10 Timeline useful to you?
Timeline can save you precious time if you use multiple devices and want to seamlessly continue your projects. It's also a great way to find a file you misplaced and get back to previously opened documents or websites. However, it still has a long way to go: to really boost productivity, we would like to see the option to log activities from more apps, while the ability to disable the tracking entirely for the apps we choose would help address our privacy concerns. What do you think? Do you find the Windows 10 Timeline useful? Are there any improvements you'd like to see? Let us know in the comments below.
