Do you ever find yourself in the middle of a task on your Mac, only to have it suddenly go to sleep? Or maybe you want to leave your Mac running overnight for a download or backup, but it keeps going to sleep and interrupting the process.
If you’re tired of constantly having to wake up your Mac or want to have more control over when it goes to sleep, you’re in luck. In this article, we’ll show you how to adjust your Mac’s sleep settings and take control of when it automatically goes to sleep.
Why Adjust Your Mac’s Sleep Settings?
Before we dive into how to adjust your Mac’s sleep settings, let’s first understand why you might want to do so.
Prevent Interruptions During Tasks
One of the main reasons to adjust your Mac’s sleep settings is to prevent interruptions during tasks. If you’re in the middle of a project or task and your Mac goes to sleep, it can be frustrating and disrupt your workflow. By adjusting the sleep settings, you can ensure that your Mac stays awake for as long as you need it to.
Save Energy and Battery Life
Another reason to adjust your Mac’s sleep settings is to save energy and battery life. If you’re not actively using your Mac, it’s a good idea to have it go to sleep to conserve energy and extend battery life. By adjusting the sleep settings, you can customize when your Mac goes to sleep and how long it stays asleep, helping you save energy and battery life.
How to Adjust Your Mac’s Sleep Settings
Now that you understand the benefits of adjusting your Mac’s sleep settings, let’s dive into how to do it.
Step 1: Open System Preferences
The first step is to open System Preferences on your Mac. You can do this by clicking on the Apple icon in the top left corner of your screen and selecting “System Preferences” from the drop-down menu.
Step 2: Click on “Energy Saver”
In the System Preferences window, click on the “Energy Saver” icon. This will open the Energy Saver settings for your Mac.
Step 3: Adjust the Sleep Settings
In the Energy Saver settings, you’ll see two tabs: “Battery” and “Power Adapter”. These tabs allow you to adjust the sleep settings for when your Mac is running on battery power or connected to a power adapter.
Battery Tab
In the “Battery” tab, you can adjust the sleep settings for when your Mac is running on battery power. You’ll see a slider that allows you to adjust the time before your Mac goes to sleep. Move the slider to the right to increase the time or to the left to decrease it.
You can also check the box next to “Prevent computer from sleeping automatically when the display is off” if you want your Mac to stay awake even when the display is off.
Power Adapter Tab
In the “Power Adapter” tab, you can adjust the sleep settings for when your Mac is connected to a power adapter. You’ll see a slider that allows you to adjust the time before your Mac goes to sleep. Move the slider to the right to increase the time or to the left to decrease it.
You can also check the box next to “Prevent computer from sleeping automatically when the display is off” if you want your Mac to stay awake even when the display is off.
Step 4: Save Your Changes
Once you’ve adjusted the sleep settings to your liking, click on the red “X” in the top left corner of the Energy Saver window to save your changes.
Additional Tips for Controlling Your Mac’s Sleep Settings
Now that you know how to adjust your Mac’s sleep settings, here are some additional tips for controlling when your Mac automatically goes to sleep.
Use Hot Corners
If you want to quickly put your Mac to sleep, you can use hot corners. Hot corners are customizable shortcuts that allow you to perform certain actions by moving your cursor to a specific corner of your screen.
To set up hot corners for putting your Mac to sleep, go to System Preferences > Desktop & Screen Saver > Screen Saver > Hot Corners. From there, you can select which corner you want to use and what action you want it to perform. Select “Put Display to Sleep” to have your Mac go to sleep when you move your cursor to that corner.
Use Terminal Commands
If you’re comfortable using Terminal, you can also use it to control your Mac’s sleep settings. Here are a few useful commands:
- To prevent your Mac from sleeping for a specific amount of time, use the command caffeinate -u -t [time in seconds]. For example, caffeinate -u -t 3600 will prevent your Mac from sleeping for one hour.
- To prevent your Mac from sleeping until a specific time, use the command caffeinate -u -t [time in seconds] -d. For example, caffeinate -u -t 16200 -d will prevent your Mac from sleeping until 4:30 PM.
- To prevent your Mac from sleeping until a specific process is complete, use the command caffeinate -w [process ID]. You can find the process ID by using the ps command.
Use Third-Party Apps
If you want even more control over your Mac’s sleep settings, you can use third-party apps. One popular app is Amphetamine, which allows you to create custom profiles for when your Mac should stay awake and when it should go to sleep. You can also use it to prevent your Mac from sleeping while specific apps are running.
Conclusion
Adjusting your Mac’s sleep settings can help you prevent interruptions during tasks, save energy and battery life, and have more control over when your Mac automatically goes to sleep. By following the steps outlined in this article, you can easily adjust your Mac’s sleep settings and take control of your Mac’s sleep behavior.
