How Can I Make My Mac Go to Sleep When the Lid is Closed?

Alright, if you’re looking to send your Mac to sleep when you close the lid, there are a few tweaks you might need to make. Check this out—it’s pretty straightforward, and you’ll have your Mac snoozing in no time!

Step 1: Power Settings Check

First things first, you’ve got to make sure your power settings aren’t playing tricks on you. Head to the Apple menu at the top-left corner of your screen and dive into System Settings (or System Preferences if your macOS is a bit vintage). Find the Battery settings (or Energy Saver for the oldies) and make sure that those sleep options are where they need to be. You don’t want “Prevent automatic sleeping on power adapter when the display is off” checked if you want sleep mode to kick in when you close the lid.

Step 2: Unhook from Network Access

Okay, here’s the kicker—sometimes, your Mac likes to stay awake for network access, which is not what you want right now. Pop back into your Battery settings, find “Wake for network access,” and flip that to Never. Nobody’s got time for a wide-awake Mac!

Step 3: Lose the Extra Devices

If you’ve got your Mac hooked up to monitors, keyboards, or whatnot, they could be keeping it awake. I mean, just unplug ‘em, close the lid, and see if your Mac finally dozes off. If it does, start plugging each device back in one by one, checking if your Mac keeps catching some z’s with the lid shut.

Step 4: Look at Background Apps

Now, let’s see what’s next—your Mac’s probably gossiping with some backstage apps, keeping it wide-awake. Fire up Activity Monitor (found it in Applications > Utilities) and keep an eye on the CPU tab. If some apps are hogging up energy, give ‘em the boot.

Step 5: The Reset Card – NVRAM/PRAM and SMC

If these tricks don’t cut it, you might have to go for a reset—yeah, NVRAM/PRAM and SMC. For Intel Macs, shut it down, turn it on, and hold down Option + Command + P + R together for 20 seconds. For resetting the SMC on laptops with a T2 chip, it’s Control + Option + Shift (right side) plus the power button for 10 seconds. For Apple silicon Macs, a simple shutdown for about 30 seconds will do the trick.

Bottom line, if you fiddle with these settings enough—check power settings, ditch wake features, unplug gadgets, silence background apps, and maybe reset some system stuff—you’ll have your Mac catching up on sleep every time you close the lid.

And just like that, you’re all set. Have fun getting everything dialed in just right!

Want your Mac to hit the sack when you shut the lid? You\’ve come to the right place! Let\’s dive into how you can put your MacBook to sleep when you close the lid—and tackle some common roadblocks you might face.

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Some Background Info

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Here\’s the scoop: Normally, when you close your MacBook, it automatically goes to sleep to save battery, but sometimes things go haywire because of settings, apps, or even hardware issues. Hang tight, we\’ve got some fixes to get your Mac snoozing as it should!

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Digging into Causes & Solutions

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1. Energy Saver Mischief

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Why It Might Happen:
\nYour Mac\’s power settings could be messing with the sleep mode, especially if you\’ve checked \”Prevent sleep when display is off.\”

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How To Fix It:

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• Hop into System Preferences > Battery > Power Adapter on your Mac.

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• Make sure that “Prevent automatic sleeping when the display is off” is unchecked.

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• Set the \”Turn display off after\” slider to a shorter time, like 5 minutes.

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• If you\’re rocking an older macOS (Catalina or before), go to Energy Saver > Power Adapter and make sure \”Prevent computer from sleeping\” is turned off.

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2. Third-Party Apps Messing Things Up

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Why It Might Happen:
\nSometimes apps like Amphetamine, KeepingYouAwake, or Kaka decide your Mac needs nothing but awake time.

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How To Fix It:

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• Open the app causing drama and turn off options like \”Prevent sleep on lid close.\”

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• If all else fails, uninstall the app:\n
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  • Use Launchpad or just drag it to the Trash.

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  • Give your Mac a restart to clear out any leftover processes.

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3. External Gadgets Getting in the Way

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Why It Might Happen:
\nSometimes connected stuff like Bluetooth devices or USB hubs send signals that keep your Mac awake and kicking.

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How To Fix It:

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• Unplug any non-essential extras.

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• Go to System Preferences > Bluetooth > Advanced and switch off \”Allow Bluetooth devices to wake this computer.\”

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• Try resetting the SMC (System Management Controller):\n
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  • For Intel Macs: Shut down, press Shift+Control+Option+Power for 10 seconds, and let go.

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  • For Apple Silicon: Just give your Mac a restart.

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4. Terminal Commands Stirring Trouble

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Why It Might Happen:
\nIf you\’ve been tinkering with custom pmset commands (like caffeinate), you might be keeping your Mac up past its bedtime.

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How To Fix It:

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• Open the Terminal and reset your sleep settings:

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sudo pmset -a disablesleep 0\nsudo pmset -a sleep 1\n

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This should make your Mac sleep like a baby again.

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• See what\’s blocking sleep by checking active processes:

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pmset -g assertions\n

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Kill off any processes listed under \”PreventUserIdleSystemSleep.\”

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5. Software Woes

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Why It Might Happen:
\nOutdated macOS versions or messed-up preferences can throw a wrench in your Mac\’s sleep game.

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How To Fix It:

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• Keep your macOS up to date through System Preferences > Software Update.

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• Reset NVRAM/PRAM if you\’ve got an Intel Mac:\n
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  • Restart your Mac and hold Option+Command+P+R for around 20 seconds.

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• Try rebuilding your sleep settings by deleting com.apple.PowerManagement.plist found in /Library/Preferences/ and restarting your Mac.

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Testing Things Out!

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1. Close that lid and give it a quick five-minute nap.

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2. See if your Mac\’s catching z\’s:\n
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   • If it\’s an Intel Mac, the power indicator should pulse gently; if it’s Apple Silicon, it might go quiet altogether.

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3. Want more proof? Use pmset -g log | grep \"Sleep\" in Terminal to check sleep logs.

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Wrap-Up

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If your Mac’s acting up when it comes to sleeping when the lid\’s closed, here are the must-dos:

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• Tweak that Energy Saver/Battery setup.

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• Switch off any sleep-blocking apps.

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• Get rid of unnecessary gadgets.

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• Reset the system controllers (SMC/NVRAM) if needed.

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If none of this does the trick, it\’s time to ring up Apple Support or think about reinstalling macOS to give your Mac a fresh start.

Want to make sure your Mac conks out when you shut the lid? Here’s what you do:

First off, you’ve got to mess around with the power settings a bit. Go to System Preferences from the Apple menu and tap on either “Battery” or “Energy Saver”. Slide that “Turn display off after” option to a shorter time – it’s like telling your Mac, “Hey, take a break sooner!”

Alright, now let’s tackle the sleep settings. Still in the Battery or Energy Saver section, you’ll want to check “Put hard disks to sleep when possible”. Make sure “Prevent computer from sleeping automatically when the display is off” isn’t ticked off. Easy-peasy, right?

If you’re in good shape so far, keep that macOS up to date. Head over to System Preferences > Software Update just to be on the safe side. Snooze issues can sometimes get ironed out with a fresh update.

Ever trip over your charger cable? Yeah, external devices are kinda like that – they can mess with your Mac’s beauty sleep. Unplug any USB drives or external screens just to be cautious.

Still with me? Now, let’s get a bit hands-on and reset the SMC (System Management Controller). Fancy name, simple fix: Shut down your Mac, press and hold Shift + Control + Option and the power button for 10 seconds, let everything go, then power it back up. Like giving it a solid refresh.

Lastly, some apps could be party poopers by keeping your Mac wide awake. Open Terminal (you’ll find this in Applications > Utilities), type pmset -g assertions, and see which pesky processes are not letting your Mac catch some Zs. If they’re not critical, you might wanna reign them in.

There you go! With these tweaks, your Mac should hit the hay when the lid’s closed. But, if it’s still being stubborn, you might want to give Apple Support a ring.