How can I stop my Mac from going to sleep?
How can I stop my Mac from going to sleep?
I often find myself in situations where I need my Mac to stay awake for extended periods, whether it’s to complete a lengthy task, monitor a process, or simply to keep it accessible. However, I keep encountering the same frustrating issue: my Mac automatically goes to sleep after a short period of inactivity. This disrupts my workflow and causes unnecessary delays. I’m looking for a way to stop my Mac from going to sleep so that it remains awake and operational as long as I need it to be. I understand that there are settings and potentially other methods to prevent this from happening, but I find myself unsure of where to begin or what options are available.
4 Answers
When I needed to prevent my Mac from sleeping, I realized there were a few methods I could use:
1. Using Energy Saver Settings:
– I opened System Preferences.
– I selected ‘Battery’ (or ‘Energy Saver’ on earlier macOS versions).
– I moved the slider for ‘Turn display off after’ to ‘Never.’
2. Keeping My Mac Awake with Terminal:
– I opened Terminal.
– I typed caffeinate and hit Enter.
– This Terminal command keeps my Mac awake as long as the Terminal window remains open.
3. Using a Third-Party App:
– I downloaded an app called ‘Amphetamine.’
– This app allows me to keep the display on with more control and options than the built-in settings.
These three methods gave me different ways to ensure my Mac doesn’t sleep, depending on what I needed at the moment.
When faced with the problem of stopping my Mac from going to sleep, I explored both quick fixes and more permanent solutions:
1. Quick Fix with Terminal:
– I opened Terminal.
– I used the command caffeinate -t 3600 to keep my Mac awake for an hour, which is very useful for temporary needs.
2. Adjusting System Preferences:
– In System Preferences, I went to ‘Battery’ settings.
– I maximized the ‘Turn display off after’ slider.
3. Bluetooth Device Trick:
– I used my Bluetooth keyboard to send a small input to keep the Mac from sleeping. This was handy during presentations.
4. Hot Corners Trick:
– Under ‘Mission Control’ in System Preferences, I set a Hot Corner to ‘Disable Screen Saver.’ When I dragged the mouse to that corner, the screen saver and sleep mode were disabled.
5. Using a Script:
– I wrote a simple AppleScript to simulate key presses, preventing sleep:
applescript
repeat
delay 60
tell application 'System Events' to key code 124
delay 60
tell application 'System Events' to key code 123
end repeat
– I saved the script and ran it when my Mac needed to stay awake.
By mixing immediate solutions with more automated approaches, I effectively managed this issue depending on the circumstances.
Here’s how I stopped my Mac from sleeping without changing many settings:
1. I installed an app called ‘Amphetamine’ from the App Store.
2. I opened the app and set it up with a few clicks.
3. This app allows me to quickly enable or disable sleep prevention with one click in the menu bar.
Using an app provided a simple solution without diving into system settings.
To stop my Mac from going to sleep, I changed the settings under System Preferences. Here’s how I did it:
1. I clicked on the Apple logo at the top left corner of the screen.
2. I selected ‘System Preferences.’
3. I chose ‘Energy Saver.’
4. I adjusted the slider for ‘Turn display off after’ to ‘Never.’
By following these steps, my Mac stays awake.