How to prevent your Mac from sleeping

Question

There are times when you may need to prevent your Mac from going to sleep. As an example, when an initial desktop backup with Druva inSync is being performed, you want to prevent your Mac from sleeping to ensure that the application won’t get disrupted if it needs to run continually.  

Environment

These instructions only work for MacOS.

Answer

The sleep settings on a Mac can be managed though "Energy Saver" in "System Preferences".

  1. Open "System Preferences" from the Apple Menu > System Preferences
  2. In "System Preferences" click Energy Saver.
  3. Select the "Power Adapter" tab.
  4. Check: "Prevent computer from sleeping automatically when the display is off".
  5. Uncheck: "Put hard disks to sleep when possible".

Additional Information

If you need further assistance, please contact the Bowdoin College Service Desk

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