Keep the Adventure Alive: A Nifty Guide to Preventing Sleep Mode on Your Mac

Published: 25th of May, 2023

Hey there, adventurers! Maria here again, swapping my canoe paddle for a keyboard today. As a storyteller, I believe that every little detail is a story waiting to unfold. I don't want to miss out on any of them just because my Mac decided to take a little nap. So today, we're going to nudge our Macs awake and keep them from slipping back into the Land of Nod. Let’s dig into the heart of sleep mode parameters and discuss how to stop your Mac from sleeping, on different macOS versions.

But before we dive in, a little background. What's this 'sleep mode', you ask? Well, just like you and I need our beauty sleep, your Mac does too! Sleep mode is a power-saving state that allows a Mac to quickly resume full-power operation (typically within a few seconds) when you want to start working again. Handy, right? But sometimes, like during a movie night or when downloading large files, we need our Macs to keep their eyes wide open.

Understanding Sleep Settings

So, Macs are like toddlers, they have various sleep stages: display sleep, system sleep, and hard disk sleep. Display sleep is when the screen goes dark, system sleep is when the whole computer goes to sleep, and hard disk sleep is just your hard disk taking a rest.

Now, grab your spelunking gear, and let's delve deep into your Mac's settings.

Changing Sleep Parameters

First, click on the Apple logo in the top-left corner of your screen, then choose "System Preferences." In the window that pops up, select "Energy Saver" or "Battery" (depending on your macOS version). Here's where the magic happens.

Now, you should see sliders for "Computer sleep" and "Display sleep". Move these sliders to the far right to 'Never' to prevent your Mac from falling asleep. If you want to stop your hard disks from sleeping, untick the box that says "Put hard disks to sleep when possible".

For Mojave and earlier macOS versions

Head over to "System Preferences", then select "Energy Saver". From there, you can adjust the sleep settings similarly by moving the sliders to 'Never' and unticking the "Put hard disks to sleep when possible" box.

Command Line Adventure

For those feeling a little bit adventurous, let's take a trip down the Terminal route. You can use the caffeinate command to prevent your Mac from sleeping. Here's how you do it:

1. Press "Cmd + Space" to open Spotlight, type "Terminal" and press enter.
2. Once Terminal is open, type caffeinate -i -t 3600 and press enter. This command will prevent your Mac from sleeping for the next hour (3600 seconds). If you want to change the duration, just replace '3600' with the desired number of seconds.

💡 A quick tip: If you want to cancel this command before the set time, type pkill caffeinate in the Terminal.

Third-Party Apps

If you're more of a "let's-make-this-easy" explorer, you can download third-party apps like Amphetamine or KeepingYouAwake, which help keep your Mac from falling asleep. Just remember to canoe your way carefully in the river of third-party apps, sticking to trusted sources.

Whew! That was a trip, wasn't it? So, next time your Mac tries to doze off during your adventure-filled night, you’ll know exactly what to do. Remember, even in the digital world, every adventurer needs a map. And today, you just charted yours for controlling sleep mode in a Mac.

Bonus Boost: iBoostUp

Speaking of adventures and keeping our Macs in tip-top shape, I've got a treasure to share with you all. Meet iBoostUp, an app I hold dear to my techy heart. This app is like your personal guide to your Mac, helping you tune, optimize, and keep it running smoothly. It's almost like giving your Mac a shot of adrenaline or... an 'energy drink' to ward off sleepiness! So, while you're busy ensuring your Mac stays awake, give it a little boost with iBoostUp. Paddle on over and check it out here!

So, there you go, adventurers! With this guide and the right tools like iBoostUp, you're now set to conquer any digital challenges that come your way. No more surprise Mac siestas!

Until next time,
  ❤️ Maria