How to keep your Mac awake

There are a few ways to keep a Mac from going to sleep, depending on how much control you want. Here they all are, from the built-in options to a menu-bar app that does it on your terms.

The built-in ways

macOS has some of this built in:

• System Settings. Under Displays, "prevent automatic sleeping when the display is off" keeps the system awake while it is plugged in. It is all-or-nothing, and only applies on power.
• The caffeinate command. In Terminal, caffeinate keeps the Mac awake until you stop it, and caffeinate -t 3600 does it for an hour. It works, but it lives in a Terminal window and takes flags to remember.

These are fine for a quick, blunt "stay awake." They do not let you keep awake only under certain conditions, run with the lid closed on battery, or see what is holding sleep off.

The menu-bar way: Keepresso

Keepresso is a free, open-source menu-bar app built on the same macOS power technology as caffeinate, with the controls those built-in options lack. Flip it on from the menu bar and pick how you want it to behave:

• For a set time. Fifteen minutes, an hour, or a custom duration, then it lets the Mac sleep on its own. See keep your Mac awake for a set time.
• Only when it matters. Stay awake only while on power, on a call, while an app runs, during a build, and more, with smart triggers.
• With the lid closed. Keep working with the lid shut, on battery, with the screen off, unlike Apple's clamshell mode. See keep your MacBook awake with the lid closed.
• Awake, screen off. Keep the system up while letting the display sleep. See keep your Mac awake but let the screen turn off.

Common reasons to keep a Mac awake

• Sitting through a long video call without touching the trackpad.
• Staying active in Teams, Slack, or a remote-desktop session while you read or step away.
• Finishing a big download, build, or render unattended.
• Running a headless Mac mini or Studio as an always-on machine.
• Keeping an external drive or NAS from spinning down.
• Coming from the caffeinate command or Amphetamine and wanting a menu-bar app instead. Full comparison: Keepresso vs Amphetamine and KeepingYouAwake.

The quickest start

Install Keepresso and click the cup in your menu bar:

brew install --cask gyorgysh/keepresso/keepresso

Full steps in Install Keepresso and keep your Mac awake.