---
title: "Quiet Hours"
url: https://storagestudio.us/wiki/quiet-hours
category: "Settings"
tags: ["settings", "quiet hours", "performance", "automatic moves"]
summary: "Quiet Hours decides when Storage Studio's automatic nightly run of your rules may start. Choose Scheduled (a fixed daily window plus an idle check), Smart (waits while you're busy, on low battery or in a meeting) or Always on. Anything you start yourself runs straight away."
updated: 2026-10-01T05:37:20.000Z
---

# Quiet Hours

Quiet Hours decides when Storage Studio's automatic nightly run of your rules may start. Choose Scheduled (a fixed daily window plus an idle check), Smart (waits while you're busy, on low battery or in a meeting) or Always on. Anything you start yourself runs straight away.

**Quiet Hours** decides when Storage Studio is allowed to do its automatic heavy work — chiefly the nightly run of your [rules and Automatic Moves](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/rules-and-automatic-moves). While it's "quiet", that run waits. Anything you start yourself, such as **Run Tuhi** on the Home screen, isn't held back.

Find it in **Settings…** → **Quiet Hours**, or click the **Next clean-up** tile on the Home screen. Changes apply automatically.

## The three modes

| Mode | When it's quiet |
|---|---|
| **Scheduled** | During a fixed time window each day, *and* whenever you've used the keyboard or mouse recently. |
| **Smart (recommended)** | Whenever you're active, your battery is low, or you're in a meeting. |
| **Always on** | Never. Automatic actions run whenever they're due. Use with care. |

A new install starts on **Scheduled**. **Smart** is the one we recommend, because it follows what you're actually doing rather than the clock.

### Scheduled

- **Quiet during** takes 24-hour ranges, separated by commas — for example `9-12,14-18`. The default is `9-19`, which means 9 AM until 7 PM.
- **Also wait until you've been idle for** a number of seconds — 600 by default.

### Smart

- **User active if input within last** a number of minutes (5 by default). While you're typing or using the mouse, heavy work waits.
- **Pause when battery drops below** a percentage (30% by default). This only applies on battery; when your Mac is plugged in, the percentage is ignored.
- **Pause during meetings** (on by default) waits while any app is using your camera or microphone. Nothing is recorded — Storage Studio only checks whether they're in use.

```mermaid
%% caption: How Smart mode decides whether the nightly run can start
flowchart TD
  A[The nightly run is due] --> B{Have you used the keyboard or mouse recently?}
  B -->|Yes| W[Wait and check again later]
  B -->|No| C{On battery and below the limit?}
  C -->|Yes| W
  C -->|No| D{Camera or microphone in use?}
  D -->|Yes| W
  D -->|No| R[Run your rules now]
```

*Flowchart — How Smart mode decides whether the nightly run can start. Outline:*

- The nightly run is due
  - leads to Have you used the keyboard or mouse recently?
- Have you used the keyboard or mouse recently?
  - Yes: leads to Wait and check again later
  - No: leads to On battery and below the limit?
- On battery and below the limit?
  - Yes: leads to Wait and check again later
  - No: leads to Camera or microphone in use?
- Camera or microphone in use?
  - Yes: leads to Wait and check again later
  - No: leads to Run your rules now

## When the nightly run happens

The automatic run of your rules is due once a day, at 3 AM by default. If your Mac was asleep or it was quiet at that time, it runs at the first moment afterwards that isn't quiet — so a missed run still happens later instead of being skipped. Storage Studio has to be running for this — see [Starting Storage Studio at login](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/start-at-login). The **Next clean-up** tile on the Home screen shows the time; it reads **Paused** when you've paused automatic actions and **Manual** when automatic actions are switched off.

## Checking whether it's quiet now

In the Advanced popover, the **Quiet hours** status row shows the current state — for example your scheduled window with **active now**, or in Smart mode **OK to run** or the reason it's waiting.

## Good to know

- Quiet Hours doesn't stop Storage Studio watching your drive or keeping its status up to date — only the automatic heavy work waits.
- [Data Backup](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/data-backup) has its own quiet period, set on each backup; see [Backup schedules and triggers](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/backup-schedules).
- To stop all automatic work for a while, pause it instead — see [Pausing or stopping everything](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/pausing-and-stopping). For how Storage Studio stays light while it runs, see [Why Storage Studio works slowly on purpose](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/a-lazy-background-utility) and [During meetings, calls and presentations](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/during-meetings-and-calls).

See also: [Performance modes](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/performance-modes), [The Preferences window](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/preferences-window).

## What links here

- [Battery and power](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/battery-and-power)
- [During meetings, calls and presentations](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/during-meetings-and-calls)
- [My rules don't move anything from Documents or Desktop](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/rules-dont-move-documents-or-desktop)
- [Rules: moving folders automatically](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/rules-and-automatic-moves)
- [Starting Storage Studio at login](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/start-at-login)
- [The Home screen](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/the-home-screen)
- [The Preferences window](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/preferences-window)
- [Where to start: pick your goal](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/where-to-start)