How to Set Sleep and Wake Times on a Mac

Authored by: Support.com Tech Pro Team

1. Introduction

This guide will demonstrate step by step how to disable or change sleep and wake settings on your machine.

After a period of inactivity, macOS will automatically turn off or go into a standby state to save power or battery life - this is known as Sleep Mode. While the feature is designed to be helpful, it can be inconvenient depending on how you use your computer.

On your Mac you may also set shutdown, startup, sleep and wake times on a schedule. For instance, you can schedule a shutdown time at night to save power and add a wake up time so the computer is ready for you when you start your day.

Tools You'll Need:

  • A paperclip
  • iPhone charging cable
  • Access to a computer with iTunes installed
  • Any other non-consumable tools needed
  • Comment out tools section if no tools are necessary

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Supplies You'll Need:

  • Zip ties
  • Any other consumable supplies
  • Comment out supplies section if no supplies are necessary

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Before You Begin:

  • You must have access to a computer with iTunes installed.
  • You must have that thing for the other thing so you can do the thing.

You must have this thing before you whatever.

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macOS

2. Energy Saver Settings

  1. Open the Apple menu, and select System Preferences.
macOS Mojave Apple Menu with System Preferences highlighted.
  1. Select Energy Saver.
Energy Saver Preferences
  1. You can adjust the Sleep times for your computer here.
Energy Saver Preferences
  1. Computer Sleep
  2. How long before your computer itself turns off and goes to sleep to save power.
  3. Display Sleep
  4. How long before your laptop display or monitor turns off to save power.
  5. Put hard disks to sleep when possible
  6. The hard drive, where you store your information, is one of the few remaining parts of your computer with moving parts. Not only to save energy, but to save wear and tear on the spinning drives, this options lets your Mac put the disks to sleep when they haven't been used in a while automatically.
  7. If you want to schedule your computer to turn on and off at certain times, select Schedule.
Energy Saver Preferences with Schedule highlighted.
  1. Adjust the times and behavior you want your computer to follow here.
Energy Saver Preferences Schedule
  1. Start up or wake
  2. Set your computer to automatically turn on at a certain time. For example, just before you get into the office.
  3. Sleep or Shutdown
  4. Choose to have your computer either sleep or shut down at a certain time every day. For example, after you leave the office, to be sure you turned off your computer after you left for the day.
  5. Don't forget to select OK once done to keep the changes you make to your schedule!