Everything about Mac and Hibernate settings with free apps

Applecomputers, such as the MacBook, are known for their long battery life. This durability is mainly due to the MacBook's efficient power management features, including Sleep and Hibernate settings.

When a MacBook is closed, it automatically enters sleep mode. This mode dims the screen and turns off the hard drive, which significantly helps save battery life. In this article, I'll explain how to customize Sleep and Hibernation on your Mac to best suit your usage patterns and needs. These tweaks can help to further extend your battery life and improve the overall efficiency of your device.

Everything about Mac and Hibernate settings with free apps

Apps to disable sleep mode

As mentioned earlier, when you close a MacBook, the MacBook goes into Sleep mode. There is no way to change this through the Mac settings, if you want your Mac to not go into sleep mode when you close the screen you will need an application that prevents this.

InsomniaX

InsomniaX is an application that prevents your Mac from going to sleep when the lid is closed.

To use InsomniaX, first download the version InsomniaX-2.1.8.tgz. After installation, you will find InsomniaX settings at the top of your Mac's menu bar. By clicking on the InsomniaX icon and choosing 'Disable Idle Sleep' from the menu, you activate the function.

When enabling this feature, you may be asked to enter your administrator password and allow a system extension. This permission is essential for the operation of InsomniaX. If your screen goes black, simply move the mouse to wake it up again.

Once 'Disable Lid Sleep' is active, the InsomniaX icon in the Mac's menu bar will turn black. This is the indication that the feature is enabled.

It is important to note that InsomniaX has not been officially supported for some time, although it still functions. However, the exact duration of InsomniaX for Mac functionality in the future is uncertain.

amphetamine

There are several applications available that make it possible to manage the sleep mode of a Mac. A well-known application was Caffeine, but it is no longer supported. A modern alternative is amphetamine.

In addition, macOS itself offers built-in functionalities to prevent your Mac from going into sleep mode. These options can be accessed through the System Preferences, where you can adjust power options to manage sleep mode. This provides an integrated solution without the need to download additional software.

caffeinates

The 'caffeinate' command in macOS is a useful tool to prevent your Mac from falling asleep. To use this command, first open Terminal: press Command + Spacebar, type 'Terminal' and enter the command 'caffeinate' in the opened terminal window.

Once you run 'caffeinate', the cursor in Terminal will move to a new, blank line and stay there. Your Mac will not fall asleep as long as this command is active. To end the 'caffeinate' process, press Ctrl + C, which will stop the process and return you to the normal Terminal prompt.

Apple offers several options with the 'caffeinate' command to meet different needs:

• -d: Prevents the screen from going to sleep mode.
• -i: Prevents the system from falling asleep.
• -s: Prevents system sleep, only effective when the Mac is running on battery power.
• -u: Indicates that a user is active. If the screen is off, this option will turn on the screen and prevent it from going into sleep mode.
• -t: Specifies the duration in seconds that the 'caffeinate' command remains active.

These options provide flexibility for different situations, allowing users to configure their Mac to their specific needs.

Automatic sleep mode after specific time period

To set your Mac to automatically sleep after a certain amount of time, follow these steps:

Click on it Applelogo at the top left of your screen and select 'System Preferences'. Then choose Energy Saver or Energy Saver, depending on your macOS version.

Look for the slider labeled “Turn off display after”. This control determines how much time of inactivity your Mac's screen and ultimately the computer itself goes into sleep mode.

Drag the slider to the time you want for the screen to automatically turn off and enter sleep mode. You can choose from different time intervals, ranging from a few minutes to several hours, depending on your preference.

Make sure the option “Prevent computer from automatically going to sleep when the display is off” is not checked. If this option is selected, your Mac will not be able to automatically go to sleep even if the screen is turned off.

By adjusting these settings, you can optimize the power efficiency of your Mac and ensure that it is only active when needed. This is especially useful for saving power and extending battery life when you're not using your Mac.

Mac won't go to sleep?

If your Mac does not go to sleep despite the time set in the Power Settings, it may be caused by active network activities or processes, such as certain programs or system background tasks. Here are detailed steps to check and fix why your Mac won't sleep:

macOS has a built-in utility called 'Activity Monitor' that provides insight into running processes on your Mac.

Press Command + Spacebar to open Spotlight, type "Activity Monitor" and press Enter to open the application.

In Activity Monitor, go to the 'Power' tab. This tab provides an overview of the energy impact of running processes and applications.

In the 'Prevents Hibernation' column you can see which applications or processes prevent your Mac from going to sleep. This column indicates 'Yes' for processes that actively suppress sleep.

If you find one or more processes or applications that indicate "Yes" in the "Prevents Hibernation" column, consider closing those applications or processes. This can often be done by simply closing the application, or, if it is a background process, by ending the process via Activity Monitor.

By following these steps, you can identify and fix the cause of your Mac not going into the desired sleep mode. This is useful for both saving power and optimizing the performance of your Mac.

Read more: Optimize your Mac by... Make Mac faster with this guide.

I hope this helped you. Thank you for reading!