Typical Mac users never need to shut down their Macs on a daily basis. It is better to let your Mac go to sleep so it can handle maintenance tasks while you aren't using it. This will make your Mac faster when you are using it, and also allow you to avoid any delay while it starts up. A sleeping Mac uses very little power.
There’s no doubting that in a lot of people’s opinions, Macbooks are rightly one of the most popular laptops in the world. This is due to a host of reasons – from strong battery life to great user experience to easy personalization.
One thing that Mac’s are well known for being good for is being used for a long period of time. Often, might not not even have the need to turn your Mac off for a week or so (it’s recommended you turn them off weekly, but they will stay on longer than this). Instead, when you’re not using your Mac, you can put it into sleep mode.
Or, you should be able to, at least. Some people have the issue where their Mac won’t sleep, and it won’t go into sleep mode as it should. What can you do to fix this issue? Well, here’s just a few of the ways you can do this.
Mac Won’t Sleep
Fortunately, if your Mac is refusing to enter sleep mode, then there are some things that you can do to resolve the problem. If you follow this step by step guide, then you should be able to make your Mac go to sleep.
Check Energy Saver
The first thing that you should do if your Mac isn’t sleeping is to check the energy mode and sleep settings that you’re using with your Mac. In some cases, the problem could be as simply fixed by changing the settings around around.
Firstly, you’re going to need to go ahead and enter into your Macbook’s Energy Saver. You can do this by going to the Apple Icon, then System Preferences, and then into Energy Saver. This is where you can control your Mac’s sleep mode settings.
Now that you’re in Energy Saver, you’ll be able to change things around to suit your own preferences. This includes the amount of time that your Macbook takes before it ends up going into sleep mode.
The most important thing to look at here is located in the Power Adapter tab. You can actually see something here called Prevent computer from sleeping automatically when the display is off.
As you can probably guess, if the box for this is ticked, then your Mac is never going to go into sleep mode. So, the first step is unchecking this box if it’s checked, and this will fix your issue.
Below this, you’ll also see the option Wake for Wi-fi network access. You’ll want to uncheck this as well, otherwise other users will wake your Mac up when they’re online trying to use resources shared between the two of you.
Turn your Bluetooth Settings off
The Energy Saver settings are the most likely thing to be causing an issue in your System Preferences, but they aren’t the only thing. After you’ve finished running through the Energy Saver step, you’ll need to go ahead and enter into your Bluetooth settings too.
When you enter your Bluetooth settings, you’ll want to click on Advanced. This will bring up another level that you can change things that are more detailed about your Bluetooth.
Does anything stand out here? Yes, that’s right – the bottom option which read Allow Bluetooth devices to wake this computer can stop your Mac from entering into sleep mode. Although this should only work when you’re using any Bluetooth devices with the Mac, it can sometimes cause you form going into sleep mode even when you’re not using them. So, go ahead and turn this off.
Go through your Sharing Settings
So, we’ve sorted out the Energy Saver and Bluetooth settings, so what’s next? Now, you’ll want to proceed into your Shared settings. You can find this easily in your System Preferences.
Here, you’ll need to go through and see if there’s anything which may be preventing your Mac from entering into sleep mode. It could be any of the options, so you’ll need to do your own thinking here to figure out what could be causing the problem.
Generally, the best thing for you to do in this scenario is to turn off anything that you don’t need. Then, you won’t need to worry about your sharing settings being the source of your issue.
See which apps you’re using
One of the most important things that you’ll want to do if you’re struggling to figure out why your Mac won’t sleep is to see which apps and running. Any processes that are running on your Mac, even if they’re only in the background, could be the reason why your Mac is staying on.
The easiest way for you to open your Activity Monitor is simply by pressing Command + Space. This will bring up the search function, and you can easily look for the monitor and load it up.
Then, when you’re in Activity Monitor, you’ll want to go ahead and enter into the Energy tab at the top. You’ll actually be able to see a column here which reads Preventing Sleep.
Now, you can sort the column by Ascending and you’ll easily be able to see if any of the apps that you’ve got open are preventing your app from going into sleep mode. Often, this will say Chrome, because it’s likely you’ve got a tab open that will stop your Macbook from doing this. So, make sure all of these apps are closed too.
Sleep Number App Download
Conclusion
Overall, these are the main ways that your Mac could be preventing itself from entering into sleep mode. Fortunately, the majority of the time there’s something in the settings which is causing this problem.
Whether it’s your Bluetooth or sharing settings, or a rogue app that’s causing the issue, you can usually find out what the source is pretty easily. And once you do, finally your Mac will be able to get a rest!
When you leave your Mac idle for long, you expect it go into sleep mode. This not just conserves electricity, it prevents the device from heating up as well. However, what if your Mac doesn’t go into sleep mode as it is supposed to?
It is obvious that something is stopping your Mac from going into sleep, but what? Well, this could be due to a simple to solve underlying problems, such as setting error. The solutions that I am about to disclose could be a lifesaver if your Mac is facing this issue.
How to Fix a Mac That Won’t Sleep
Mac Never Sleep App Download
Your Mac won’t automatically go to sleep unless it’s inactive or some setting is stopping it from doing so. Try these basic troubleshooting hacks that will help you to figure out and subsequently solving the issue.
Solution #1: Check The Energy Saver Settings
The most common probability of Mac not going to sleep could be a disturbance in your energy-saving settings.
Step #1. Click on the Apple Icon () and select System Preferences from the drop-down menu.
Step #2. Open Energy Saver and carefully study each setting. These settings might be different in your Mac.
Step #3. The Energy Saver window has two tabs Battery and Power Adapter. Check the display settings in both the tabs.
- Turn display off after should not be set at never
- If Turn display off after option set for a more extended period, it delays the sleep time of your Mac. Correct the settings as per your preference
- Uncheck the Prevent computer from sleeping automatically when the display is off, in the Power Adaptor Tab
- Uncheck the Wake for Wi-Fi network access, in the Power Adaptor Tab
Note: The macOS Catalina update has an added feature to the Energy Saver, the Enable Power Nap while on battery power (Under Battery tab) and Enable Power Nap while plugged into a power adaptor (Under Power Adaptor tab). The Power Nap setting will enable your Mac to periodically check for new email, calendar or other iCloud updates during its sleep. In addition, when plugged into a power adaptor and sleeping, Mac could also back up using Time Machine.
Step #4. Click on Schedule from the bottom of the page.
Step #5. Ensure that your Mac is not set on aschedule for Wake up. Correct the settings as per your preference.
Sometimes, this solution works perfectly but sometimes, this works randomly. In that case, check the next option.
Solution #2: Force Quit an Application on Mac
At times, macOS won’t go to sleep due to some application running in the background. You can simply press Command (⌘) + Option + Esc to check the applications running on your Mac.
You can either close the app manually or use Force Quit tab on the bottom of the dialogue window to close them. There still might be some internal activities such as iTunes, pending printer jobs, or other external drivers that are stopping Mac from entering sleep mode.
Solution #3: Use Activity Monitor App to Detect and Stop them
Step #1. Go to Applications → Utilities and open Activity Monitor app or use Spotlight to search the app.
Step #2. Click on the Energy tab from the menu options.
Step #3. The Preventing Sleep column indicates the processes that are preventing the Mac from going to sleep.
Step #4. If there is any Yes in the column, close the corresponding app.
Mac Never Sleep App Free
In case you cannot spot the Preventing Sleep tab then, click on View and select Columns from the menu options. Here select the Preventing Sleep to add in the column section.
Solution #4: Stop Bluetooth Devices From Waking Your Mac
Another culprit that your Mac won’t go into sleep mode, might be the Bluetooth devices attached, especially the mouse or keyboard.
Step #1. Click on Bluetooth icon from the menu bar and click on Open Bluetooth Preferences.
Step #2. In the dialogue box, select Advanced from the bottom of the window.
Step #3. Here uncheck the Allow Bluetooth Devices To Wake this Computer, from the drop-down options. Click on OK and exit the window.
Solution #5: Use Terminal Command To Find The Issue
You can use the Terminal app to fix MacBook not Going to sleep, as it will help you figure out which setting or app is not allowing Mac to go to sleep.
Step #1. Go to Applications → Utilities and open Terminal app or use Spotlight to search the app.
Step #2. In the Terminal app, type this command pmset -g assertions.
Step #3. Check the result and look for PreventUserIdleDisplaySleep, PreventSystemSleep and PreventUserIdleSystemSleep.
Step #4. If any of them has a 1 in front of them, they might be stopping your Mac from sleep.
Step #5. Check under the Listed by owning process option for further details.
Step #6. Look for the option that has a 1 and check which app or setting is causing this.
Step #7. Close the app mentioned.
Solution #6: Reset NVRAM and PRAM
Some display settings are also stored in NVRAM (nonvolatile random-access memory) and resetting NVRAM and PRAM (Parameter RAM) may solve the issue.
That’s all for now!
Signing off…
When a Mac is put to sleep, it enters into a low-power state; wherein the current state is kept in memory, and other parts are shut down. The energy consumption in this state is similar to when your Mac is shut down.
So, even though not sleeping does not affect your Mac’s productivity, it does preserve its battery life and conserves energy when plugged in. In case the options above did not fix the issue, contact Apple.
Check out more hack related to Mac:
No Sleep For Mac
Have you faced this issue? What hacks did you use for it? Is there a hack we did not cover? Share your experience with us in comment box.
Mac Never Sleep App Setup
Suraj is a digital marketing expert on the iGB's team. He contributes to the social media section along with tips and tricks for iPhone, Apple Watch. Apart from blogging, he likes to work out as much as he can in his gym and love to listening to retro music.
Mac Never Sleep Apps
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