The Suspended Applications
Windows 11 includes aggressive power management features designed to maximize battery life on laptops. One of the ways it achieves this is by constantly monitoring the applications you have open. If you minimize an application and don’t interact with it for a while, Windows may automatically “suspend” the app, freezing its background processes. If system resources get tight, Windows might even silently terminate the app entirely. While this saves battery, it is infuriating if you are relying on a background app to sync files, receive chat notifications, or render a video.
How to Set an App to Run Unrestricted
You can override the Windows 11 power management system on a per-app basis, guaranteeing that a specific application is allowed to run at full power in the background indefinitely, regardless of your battery level.
1. Click the Start button, type Settings, and press Enter.
2. In the left-hand sidebar, click on Apps.
3. In the main pane, click on Installed apps.
4. Scroll down the list (or use the search bar) to find the application that keeps closing or suspending (e.g., Slack, Spotify, or Dropbox).
5. Click the three horizontal dots to the far right of the app’s name.
6. Select Advanced options from the drop-down menu.
7. Scroll down to the section titled Background apps permissions.
8. Click the dropdown menu under “Let this app run in background.” It is likely set to “Power optimized (recommended).”
9. Change the setting to Always.
The Limitation of Classic Win32 Apps
Note that the “Advanced options” menu is generally only available for modern UWP (Universal Windows Platform) apps downloaded from the Microsoft Store. If you are trying to stop a classic, legacy desktop program (like an old version of Photoshop) from suspending, you cannot do it through this menu. Instead, you must change your global Windows power plan from “Balanced” to “High Performance” via the classic Control Panel, which disables aggressive suspending system-wide at the cost of significantly faster battery drain.