Guides and how-tos

How to keep your Mac awake

The ways to stop your Mac sleeping, from built-in settings and the caffeinate command to a menu-bar app that keeps it awake on your terms.

Install Keepresso and keep your Mac awake

Download Keepresso, drop it in Applications, and start a keep-awake session from the menu bar.

A caffeinate alternative for macOS with a real menu-bar app

Keepresso does what the caffeinate command does, and much more, from the menu bar. A free, open-source Amphetamine and caffeinate alternative for macOS.

Is Keepresso safe? Open source, notarized, minimal permissions

Keepresso is free, open source, notarized by Apple, and asks for almost no permissions. Here is what it can and cannot do.

Use Keepresso in your language

Keepresso speaks fifteen languages and follows your system language by default. Switch it any time from Preferences or the Welcome screen.

Keepresso vs Amphetamine, KeepingYouAwake, and caffeinate

An honest comparison of Keepresso, Amphetamine, KeepingYouAwake, and the caffeinate command. When each is enough, and when a free open-source menu-bar app is the better fit.

Keep your Mac awake for a set time

Start a timed keep-awake session so your Mac stays up for a download or render, then sleeps on its own.

Keep your MacBook awake with the lid closed

Stop your MacBook from sleeping when you close the lid, on battery, with no external display and no power cord. Free and open source.

Keep awake only when it matters, with smart triggers

Set conditions so Keepresso keeps your Mac awake only while an app runs, a call is live, you are on power, and more. Never on when it should not be.

Keep your Mac awake but let the screen turn off

Keep your Mac running for a download or a build while the display sleeps to save power and protect the screen.

Stop your Mac sleeping during Zoom, Teams, and Meet calls

Keep your Mac awake during video calls automatically, so it never sleeps mid-meeting, on any app including calls in a browser tab.

Keep an external drive or NAS from sleeping on your Mac

Stop an external hard drive, SD card, or NAS from spinning down mid-job, and keep your Mac awake while it is connected.

Keep your Mac awake only while charging

Keep your Mac awake while it is plugged in, and let it sleep on battery so it never runs flat.

Control Keepresso from Shortcuts, Raycast, or a script

Start, stop, or toggle keep-awake from the Shortcuts app, Spotlight, Siri, Raycast, Alfred, or a URL, completely hands off.

Fix cloud gaming and streaming lag on a Mac

Regular ping spikes while gaming, on GeForce NOW, or streaming with Moonlight and Parsec? On a Mac the usual cause is AWDL sharing your Wi-Fi radio. Keepresso can test for it and pause it for the session.

Keepresso widgets and the Control Center toggle

See what is brewing without opening the menu. Keepresso ships desktop and Notification Center widgets with a live countdown, and a Control Center toggle to start or stop a session.

Keep your Mac awake while a Bluetooth device is connected

Hold your Mac awake while a controller, headphones, or a trackpad is paired, and let it sleep once they disconnect. Set it up with the Bluetooth device trigger.

Keep your Mac awake during calendar events

Tie your Mac's awake time to your schedule. The calendar trigger holds it up while an event is on your Mac's calendar, so a meeting or a booked block never lets it sleep.

Keep your status active: stop Teams, Slack, and VDI marking you away

Keep your Mac reporting activity so Teams, Slack, remote-desktop, and VDI sessions keep you Active instead of flipping to away or logging you out.

Toggle keep-awake with a keyboard shortcut, and start it on launch

Set a system-wide hotkey to flip keep-awake on or off from any app, and have Keepresso start a session automatically when it opens.

Keep your Mac awake from the command line with the keepresso CLI

Drive Keepresso from the terminal, scripts, and pipelines with the keepresso command. Start, stop, toggle, and read status, or hold the Mac awake caffeinate-style with no app running.

Keep your Mac awake during long builds and compiles

Stop macOS from sleeping mid-compile. Use Keepresso timers, CPU or process triggers, and closed-lid mode so Xcode, cargo, gradle, and CI-style builds finish unattended.

Keep your Mac awake for Time Machine and long backups

Stop sleep from interrupting Time Machine or a long backup. Use Keepresso's Backup Running preset, volume triggers, and disk keep-alive so the job finishes.

Set up a headless Mac mini or Mac Studio to stay awake and reachable

Turn a Mac mini or Mac Studio into a reliable always-on machine that never sleeps, survives a power cut, and comes back on its own.

Fix blurry Screen Sharing on a headless Mac, no dummy plug needed

A headless Mac gives you a fuzzy, low-res desktop over Screen Sharing or VNC. Keepresso can serve a crisp HiDPI display with no HDMI dummy plug and no paid app.

My Mac still goes to sleep

A short checklist for when Keepresso is on but your Mac keeps sleeping anyway.

Why won't my Mac sleep? See what is keeping it awake

Your Mac will not sleep and you do not know why. Keepresso shows every app holding it awake, in plain language.

Stop the repeated administrator password prompts

Closed-display mode and the gaming AWDL pause can ask for your admin password on every launch. Install the administrator helper once and they never ask again.