# Keep background workspaces alive

Choose whether MAO retains background workspaces when you switch away or quit.

The workspace retention setting controls whether MAO keeps background workspaces alive. You can set it during first run or change it later in Settings.

## Change workspace retention

1. Open **Settings**.
2. Find **Keep workspaces alive**.
3. Turn the setting on or off.
4. You can also choose the same setting on the **Almost ready** first-run screen.

> **Limit:** Keeping workspaces alive does not guarantee process recovery after a crash or machine shutdown.

Source: https://trymao.dev/docs/settings-backups-updates/workspace-retention