Performance & battery · Meetings, presenting and when you're busy
How does Storage Studio know when I'm busy using my Mac?
Short answer: It reads only how long it's been since your last keyboard or trackpad input — never what you typed. Background work shrinks while you're active, and Smart Quiet Hours can hold automatic actions until you've been idle a while.
It looks only at how long it has been since the last keyboard or trackpad input — the same idle time macOS itself keeps. It never sees what you type or click.
Two things use that signal:
- Background work shrinks while you're active and catches up once you step away.
- In Smart Quiet Hours, automatic actions wait while you've used the Mac within the time you set under User active if input within last … minutes.
You can adjust that time in Settings → Quiet Hours. See Why does background work slow down when I use my Mac?