---
name: "renice"
section: "8"
platform: "macos"
package: "shell_cmds"
version: "329"
release: "macOS 26.5"
platforms: ["linux", "freebsd", "openbsd", "macos"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/renice/8"
---

# renice(8)

alter priority of running processes

## NAME

**renice** – alter priority of running processes

## SYNOPSIS

**renice** *priority* \[\[**-gpu**\] *target*\]

**renice** **-n** *increment* \[\[**-gpu**\] *target*\]

## DESCRIPTION

The **renice** utility alters the scheduling priority of one or more running processes. The following *target* parameters are interpreted as process ID's (the default), process group ID's, user ID's or user names. The **renice**'ing of a process group causes all processes in the process group to have their scheduling priority altered. The **renice**'ing of a user causes all processes owned by the user to have their scheduling priority altered.

The following options are available:

- **-n**

  Instead of changing the specified processes to the given priority, interpret the following argument as an increment to be applied to the current priority of each process.

- **-g**

  Interpret *target* parameters as process group ID's.

- **-p**

  Interpret *target* parameters as process ID's (the default).

- **-u**

  Interpret *target* parameters as user names or user ID's.

Users other than the super-user may only alter the priority of processes they own, and can only monotonically increase their \`\`nice value'' within the range 0 to PRIO\_MAX (20). (This prevents overriding administrative fiats.) The super-user may alter the priority of any process and set the priority to any value in the range PRIO\_MIN (-20) to PRIO\_MAX. Useful priorities are: 20 (the affected processes will run only when nothing else in the system wants to), 0 (the \`\`base'' scheduling priority), anything negative (to make things go very fast).

## FILES

- */etc/passwd*

  to map user names to user ID's

## EXAMPLES

Change the priority of process ID's 987 and 32, and all processes owned by users daemon and root.

```
renice +1 987 -u daemon root -p 32
```

## SEE ALSO

[nice(1)](/nice/1.md), [rtprio(1)](/rtprio/1.md), [getpriority(2)](/getpriority/2.md), [setpriority(2)](/setpriority/2.md)

## STANDARDS

The **renice** utility conforms to IEEE Std 1003.1-2001 (“POSIX.1”).

## HISTORY

The **renice** utility appeared in 4.0BSD.

## BUGS

Non super-users cannot increase scheduling priorities of their own processes, even if they were the ones that decreased the priorities in the first place.