Awake
Keep your Mac awake when you need it.
Keep your Mac and display awake during a manual session. Choose when it ends, with battery and thermal safety limits built in.
Choose how Awake works.
- Manual controlStart a session for a set duration, until a date and time, until power disconnects, or until you stop it.
- Off when you chooseStop the session or select Off to return to normal macOS sleep behaviour.
- A visible statusSee whether Awake is active in BackDrop. You can also show its status and system metrics on your wallpaper.
Manual sessions
Decide when the session ends.
Choose the session that fits your work. You can stop a manual session from BackDrop at any time.
- For a duration — keep your Mac awake for the time you choose.
- Until a date and time — set a specific end point.
- Until power disconnects — start while connected to external power.
- Until stopped — keep the session running until you end it, subject to safety limits.
Power and battery
Power and battery limits, built in.
- Sleep prevention stops when your Mac is running on battery at 10% charge or lower, or your Mac reports critical thermal pressure.
- The Awake tab shows the current session and safety status.
Your Mac and display stay awake.
An active session prevents idle system and display sleep, subject to safety limits. Closing a MacBook lid may still put it to sleep unless you are using Apple-supported closed-display mode.
Keep the status in view, if you want it.
Awake sessions are controlled in the Awake tab. To show the status on your desktop, enable Awake in Wallpaper, choose its position and press Apply Wallpaper. Hiding the wallpaper status does not stop an Awake session.
Set up your wallpaper