How to Turn Off Sleep Mode on a Mac

You can set sleep and wake settings for your Mac. How to Turn Off Sleep Mode on a Mac. For example, you can set your Mac to go to sleep after a specified duration of inactivity, or set it to wake for network access. Your Mac computer is set to go to sleep after a certain amount of time in order to help conserve power or your laptop’s batteries. However, it can be annoying if your computer is going to sleep when you don’t want it to. Here’s how to turn off sleep mode on a Mac using System Preferences and keep it awake with third-party apps.

Note: Some of the options may not be available, depending on your Mac.

Set your Mac to go to sleep after inactivity

1. On your Mac, choose Apple menu  > System Settings, then click Lock Screen  in the sidebar. (You may need to scroll down.)
2. Do any of the following:
   • Click the pop-up menu next to “Turn display off on battery when inactive” on the right, then choose an option.
   • Click the pop-up menu next to “Turn display off on power adapter when inactive” on the right, then choose an option.

Specify sleep and wake settings for a Mac laptop

1. On your Mac, choose Apple menu  > System Settings, then click Battery  in the sidebar. (You may need to scroll down.)
2. Click Options on the right, then do any of the following:
   • Put hard disks to sleep: Turn on “Put hard disks to sleep when possible.”
   • Update your system while it’s asleep: Click the pop-up menu next to Enable Power Nap, then choose an option.See What is Power Nap?
   • Allow your Mac to wake briefly so users can access shared services (if applicable): Click the pop-up menu next to “Wake for network access,” then choose an option.See Share your Mac resources when it’s in sleep.

Specify sleep and wake settings for a Mac laptop

1. On your Mac, choose Apple menu  > System Settings, then click Energy Saver  in the sidebar. (You may need to scroll down.)
2. Do any of the following:
   • Put hard disks to sleep: Turn on “Put hard disks to sleep when possible” on the right.
   • Update your system while it’s asleep: Turn on Enable Power Nap on the right.See What is Power Nap?
   • Allow your Mac to wake briefly so users can access shared services (if applicable): Turn on “Wake for network access” on the right.

How to Turn Off Sleep Mode on a Mac Using System Preferences

To turn off sleep mode on a Mac, go to System Preferences > Energy Saver. Then tick the box next to Prevent computer from sleeping automatically when the display is off and drag the Turn display off after slider to Never.

1. Open the Apple menu. You can do this by clicking the Apple icon in the top-left corner of your screen.
2. Then select System Preferences.
3. Next, select Energy Saver. This is the icon that looks like a light bulb.
4. Tick the box next to Prevent computer from sleeping automatically when the display is off.
5. Then untick the box next to Put hard disks to sleep when possible.
6. Finally, drag the Turn display off after slider to Never.

Note: If you are using a laptop, you will only see this option if you click the Power Adapter tab at the top of the window. You can also change these settings in the Battery tab as well.

How to Turn off Sleep Mode on a Mac Using Apps

While it is easy for most people to prevent their Macs from going into sleep mode following the steps above, there are apps available that let you tweak your sleep settings even more.

Amphetamine

Amphetamine is an app designed to keep your Mac wide awake by using triggers. You can easily set up the triggers to keep your Mac awake when an external display is plugged in, a specific app is running, and more. Then you can also toggle the on/off switch in the main interface to stop the triggers. You also have full control of how your computer behaves when you’re away, whether it goes to sleep, activates the screen saver, and many other actions.

Owly

If you want to control your Mac’s sleeping preferences with a simple interface, then the Owly app is your best bet. This app features a small icon that lives in the Menu Bar at the top of your screen. Clicking it will open up a menu that lets you prevent your Mac from sleeping for a set amount of time.