# Advanced Preferences

The Advanced page of the Preferences window includes options that most people won't need.

Natural break detection method: This pop-up menu lets you override the idle detector. You can choose None to disable idle detection entirely. Or Event Source to use the old approach (from version 1) that can handle both mouse/trackpad and keyboard activity, but can get confused by some apps that post unnecessary events. Or Event Monitor to use a different mechanism that is usually more reliable, but requires authorization for keyboard activity (as discussed in the Setup Assistant); this is the default.

Alert of another copy...: Due to an OS bug, the wrong break helper can get launched if you have multiple copies of the app on your computer. The only way to prevent that is ensure you don't have more than one (including in the Trash). This option will alert you if it detects another copy.

Animate from status menu...: When the status item is displayed and the Dock icon is hidden, clicking the status item displays the Status popover. Clicking an item in this popover will expand to the full Preferences window using animation. This animation can be disabled via this checkbox if you don't like it.

Reset Position of Full Window: When the status item is displayed and the Dock icon is hidden, the Preferences window is positioned to match the position of the Status popover. But you can still move the window anywhere you want, so you can click this button to reset the position back to the Status popover. This takes effect the next time the popover is displayed.

Output scheduler logging: This option logs information about the break scheduling to the Console. Useful if you're wondering what decisions Time Out makes with the break schedule. The Only include significant changes option significantly reduces the volume of messages, so should probably be left on.

Output data handling logging: This option logs file loading and saving diagnostics. Probably not needed most of the time.

Output status item logging: This option logs diagnostics on the status item. Probably not needed most of the time.

Output break logging: This option logs diagnostics about the break itself. Probably not needed most of the time.

Open Console: This button opens the Console app (in /Applications/Utilities) so you can view the diagnostic output. You could search on "Time Out" or "timeout" to focus on the entries.

## Related Topics

- Preferences window