---
id: settings.what-do-green-yellow-red-dots-mean-in-services
url: https://storagestudio.us/faq/settings/what-do-green-yellow-red-dots-mean-in-services
category: "Settings & keep-time"
subcategory: "Services and self-healing"
question: "What do the green, yellow and red dots mean in Settings → Services?"
alt_questions:
  - "Storage Studio red dot meaning"
  - "yellow dot services storage studio"
  - "What does a traffic light status mean in Storage Studio?"
  - "Is a yellow status in Storage Studio a problem?"
  - "storage studio service needs attention"
short_answer: "Green means running normally, yellow means waiting or paused and expected to recover by itself, and red means stopped or needs your attention — the row's detail line says what to do."
tags: ["services", "status", "troubleshooting"]
related: ["https://storagestudio.us/faq/settings/what-is-the-services-pane", "https://storagestudio.us/faq/settings/background-service-row-is-red"]
applies_to: "all"
last_reviewed: 2026-10-01
---

# What do the green, yellow and red dots mean in Settings → Services?

Green means a part is running, yellow means it's waiting and should recover by itself, and red means it needs you.

- **Green — running.** The part is working or idle and ready. Nothing to do.
- **Yellow — sleeping or waiting.** It's paused, waiting for a connection, or can't act right now but should recover by itself — for example while your external drive is unplugged.
- **Red — stopped or needs attention.** Something needs you; the row's second line says what to do, and some rows offer a button that fixes it in place.

Yellow is usually nothing to worry about. Red is worth reading straight away.