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Pause monitoring when you use the PC

When you (the parent) use the kid's PC — to install software, check something for them, or just to use it briefly — you'll want to pause monitoring so your own activity isn't logged.

How to pause

  1. Look at the Windows taskbar near the clock. Find the GuardianNode shield icon (it may be in the hidden overflow area — click the small ^ arrow).
  2. Right-click the shield icon.
  3. Click Pause monitoring.
  4. Enter your parent password.
  5. Pick how long:
  6. 15 minutes — for a quick check
  7. 1 hour — for normal parent use
  8. 4 hours — for a longer session
  9. Until reboot — pauses until the PC restarts
  10. Click OK.

The shield icon turns yellow while paused. Hovering over it shows the countdown timer.

Resuming early

Right-click the yellow shield → Resume monitoring → enter parent password.

Resuming automatically

When the timer runs out, monitoring resumes on its own and the icon goes back to green.

What happens during a pause

  • No screenshots are captured or sent from the agent.
  • Local tray pauses are enforced on the child PC. In this alpha they are not synced to the dashboard audit log.

What the kid sees

The kid sees the same yellow icon you do. We deliberately don't hide pauses from them — GuardianNode is not stealth software. Knowing that you paused for an hour while doing something they couldn't see is fine; them being able to trigger a pause is not.

"I forgot my password — can I pause?"

No. The local tray pause requires the parent password. The 12-word recovery code resets dashboard access only; it does not authorize tray pause or exit actions. See If you forget your password.

Pausing from the dashboard (remote pause)

If you're using a separated setup (kid PC + parent server) and you're on your parent PC, you can pause the child's device from the dashboard. Dashboard pauses are stored server-side and shown in device status:

  1. Sign into the dashboard.
  2. Click Devices.
  3. Find the device → click Pause → pick duration.

This is convenient if you're physically away from the kid's PC.

Pause vs. uninstall

If you want to permanently stop monitoring (e.g. you're transferring the PC, or your kid has aged out), uninstall instead of using a recurring pause. The alpha relies on Windows administrator/UAC permissions for uninstall. See Troubleshooting for uninstall instructions.