LocalTelemetry

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Quickstart Guide ​

Get up and running with LocalTelemetry in less than 2 minutes.

Launching LocalTelemetry ​

Launch LocalTelemetry using your desktop shortcut or by running LocalTelemetry.exe:

  • The Settings Window opens immediately on your screen for initial configuration.
  • The LocalTelemetry icon appears in your Windows notification area (System Tray).
  • Hovering over the tray icon displays a live hardware tooltip summary with current CPU, RAM, and GPU utilization (e.g. CPU 7% RAM 50% GPU 0%).

Tray Icon TooltipLive hardware summary tooltip displayed when hovering over the system tray icon.

NOTE

LocalTelemetry requires Administrator privileges to access low-level CPU and GPU hardware sensors. When launched manually, Windows displays a standard User Account Control (UAC) prompt. To start automatically and silently at boot without a UAC prompt, enable Start with Windows in Settings.

Enabling the Taskbar Overlay ​

By default on a fresh installation, the taskbar overlay is hidden until enabled. You can turn it on in two ways:

  1. Via Settings: Navigate to Overlay in the settings dashboard and toggle Show Overlay on.
  2. Via System Tray: Right-click the System Tray Icon and click Show Overlay.

System Tray Context MenuSystem tray context menu offering quick access to show the overlay, open settings, or quit.

Once enabled, the overlay immediately anchors onto your Windows taskbar:

Default Taskbar OverlayDefault out-of-the-box taskbar overlay displaying 5 dual-row columns with automatic hardware brand colors applied and some metrics configured with custom colors.

Configuring Key Preferences ​

Explore the key configuration tabs in the settings dashboard to tailor LocalTelemetry to your setup:

Customize Displayed Metrics (Layout vs Monitoring) ​

  • Layout Tab: Drag and drop metrics to customize column order, add or remove sensors (such as NVMe disk throughput or laptop battery vitals), or click Reset Layout to Defaults to restore the standard 5-column layout.
  • Monitoring Tab: Toggle individual hardware polling components (CPU, GPU, RAM, Disk, Network, Battery) on or off to eliminate unused background queries, and configure CPU calculation modes (Average vs Max Active Core clocks; Overall vs Max Thread usage).

Adjust Overlay Position & Scale ​

  • Position & Offset: Position the overlay dynamically (Left Side or Right Side on centered taskbars; Next to Apps or Before System Tray on left-aligned taskbars), and adjust horizontal offset.
  • Scale & Opacity: Adjust overlay scaling (80% to 200%) and transparency (20% to 100%) to match your desktop aesthetic.
  • Double-Click Action: Choose what happens when double-clicking the overlay (None, Open Task Manager, or Open Settings).

Personalize Colors & Themes ​

  • Window Themes: Switch between curated dark and light theme presets for the settings dashboard, or click Reset to Default Theme.
  • Metric & Group Colors: Customize individual metric colors or entire component palettes, or click Reset All to Defaults to re-apply detected hardware vendor brand colors.

Configure Threshold Warnings ​

  • Threshold Limits: Define warning triggers for CPU/GPU temperatures, memory limits, and daily/monthly bandwidth quotas.
  • Notification Channels: Enable in-place text flashing on the taskbar overlay and non-intrusive desktop toast notifications.

Enable Silent Startup ​

  • Start with Windows: Register an elevated Windows Task Scheduler task for silent background startup on logon without UAC prompts.
  • Show System Tray Icon: Toggle the notification area icon on or off if you prefer running exclusively with the taskbar overlay.
  • Polling Interval & Units: Choose your preferred sensor refresh rate (0.5 s to 5 s) and toggle Show Temperatures in °F.

Next Steps ​

Continue exploring LocalTelemetry's features and architecture:

Released under the GNU General Public License v3.0

Copyright © 2026 Nicconike