---
id: performance-battery.when-does-automatic-choose-rich
url: https://storagestudio.us/faq/performance-battery/when-does-automatic-choose-rich
category: "Performance & battery"
subcategory: "Performance modes"
question: "When does Automatic mode choose Rich?"
alt_questions:
  - "Why is my Mac never in Rich mode?"
  - "Why does Auto pick Good instead of Rich?"
  - "storage studio rich mode on battery"
  - "What does my Mac need for Rich mode?"
short_answer: "Automatic picks Rich only on a well-equipped, mostly idle Mac that's plugged in with Low Power Mode off. On battery it stops at Good, which still shows full content and charts. You can choose Rich yourself."
tags: ["rich mode", "automatic", "battery"]
related: ["https://storagestudio.us/faq/performance-battery/what-does-auto-good-mean", "https://storagestudio.us/faq/performance-battery/does-storage-studio-run-faster-when-plugged-in"]
applies_to: "all"
last_reviewed: 2026-10-01
---

# When does Automatic mode choose Rich?

Automatic only picks **Rich** — the level with the most background budget and full effects — when your Mac is plugged in, Low Power Mode is off, the Mac has plenty of processor cores and memory, and it's mostly idle. On battery it caps itself at **Good**, so it never spends battery on maximum background work.

So it's normal for a laptop on battery, or a smaller Mac, to sit at **Auto · Good** most of the time. Good still shows full content and charts.

If you want Rich anyway, choose it from the [performance menu](https://storagestudio.us/faq/performance-battery/how-do-i-change-the-performance-mode).