Macs have a built-in energy saving feature that prompts the computer to go to sleep after a certain period of inactivity. While this feature helps conserve energy and prolongs the battery life of laptops, it can be frustrating for users who are working on a specific task and need their Mac to stay awake. Thankfully, there are several methods to keep your Mac from sleeping that work.

Method 1: Change the Energy Saver settings

The Energy Saver settings can be found in the System Preferences menu, under the Hardware section. Here, users can adjust the amount of time before their Mac goes to sleep or disable the feature entirely. To keep your Mac from sleeping, select “Never” from the “Turn display off after” drop-down menu.

Method 2: Use a third-party app

There are several third-party apps available in the Mac App Store that can prevent your Mac from sleeping. One of the most popular is Caffeine, which adds a coffee cup icon to the menu bar. Clicking on the icon activates the app and keeps your Mac from going to sleep. The app can be deactivated by clicking on the icon again.

Method 3: Use Terminal to disable sleep

For more tech-savvy Mac users, the Terminal app can be used to disable sleep mode. To do this, open Terminal and type in the following command: “sudo systemsetup -setcomputersleep never”. Press Enter and input your administrator password when prompted. This will disable sleep mode on your Mac. To turn sleep mode back on, use the command “sudo systemsetup -setcomputersleep” followed by the desired amount of time in minutes.

Method 4: Use a USB drive or external device

Plugging in a USB drive or external device, such as a keyboard or mouse, can keep your Mac from sleeping. This is because the Mac recognizes that there is an external device connected and assumes that the user is actively using their computer.