Stop your iMac, Mac mini or Mac Studio sleeping mid-job

Why it happens

To save power, a desktop Mac goes to sleep a while after its display turns off. Sleep pauses almost everything, so long renders, downloads, backups and home servers stop. The Energy switch lets the screen rest while the Mac itself stays awake.

How to fix it

1. Open the Apple menu, choose System Settings and click Energy in the sidebar. You'll find Energy on desktop Macs such as iMac, Mac mini, Mac Studio and Mac Pro.

2. Turn on Prevent automatic sleeping when the display is off.

   Energy›Prevent automatic sleeping when the display is off

3. Want the screen to stay on too? Change the display timer in Lock Screen settings. Leaving it to turn off saves power and doesn't stop your job.

   Lock Screen

4. Start your job and leave the Mac. Check back after the screen has gone dark: the job should still be moving.

Still not fixed?

1. Need to reach the Mac from another device while you're away, for file sharing or media streaming? Turn on Wake for network access in Energy as well.

   Energy›Wake for network access

2. Running a home server? Turn on Start up automatically after a power failure, so a power cut doesn't leave it switched off.

   Energy›Start up automatically after a power failure

3. To see which apps are holding the Mac awake right now, open Activity Monitor, click Energy and look at the Preventing Sleep column.

   Activity Monitor›Energy

4. On a MacBook the switch is elsewhere: open Battery, click Options and turn on Prevent automatic sleeping on power adapter when the display is off.

   Battery›Options…›Prevent automatic sleeping on power adapter when the display is off

5. Choosing Sleep from the Apple menu or pressing the power button still puts the Mac to sleep, so leave it alone while the job runs.

6. If the Mac still sleeps, restarts or shuts down during long jobs with this switch on, contact Apple Support. A Mac that switches off under load may have a power or cooling fault.