MacNoSleep Download

macOS menu bar utility

Keep your Mac awake.

Builds compile, exports render, backups upload, remote sessions hold. MacNoSleep keeps your Mac running until the work is done, then gets out of the way.

Download for Mac See how it works

Free · Universal (Apple Silicon & Intel) · macOS 14+ · 1.5 MB

The MacNoSleep menu bar panel, showing the keep awake switch, display options and system options.

You can tell at a glance.

The menu bar icon carries the state, so you never have to open anything to know whether a session is running. It is drawn as a template image, so it tints itself correctly on light menu bars, dark menu bars and while highlighted.

Hollow screen with z's
Your Mac is free to sleep.
Solid screen
A session is running.
Warning mark
Paused because the battery is low.
The three menu bar icon states shown on light and dark menu bars.

Features

Small, but not simplistic.

Everything is one click away in the menu bar. There is no preferences window, no dock icon and nothing to configure before it works.

Prevent idle sleep

Holds the system awake so long-running work is never interrupted, however long it takes.

Allow lock & sleep

Let the display sleep and lock normally while the Mac keeps working underneath. Useful when you walk away.

Dim when idle

Drop the backlight after 1, 5, 15 or 30 minutes without input, to any level you choose. It comes straight back on the next keypress.

Closed-lid operation

Keep a laptop reachable for remote sessions and transfers with the lid shut.

Auto turn off

End the session by itself after anywhere from 30 minutes to 12 hours, with the remaining time on screen.

Battery safety

Pauses automatically when you are on battery and drop below your chosen floor, then resumes when you plug back in.

Launch at login

Registers as a proper login item so your controls are ready as soon as you sign in.

Remembers where you left off

A Mac that was awake when you quit comes back awake, with the same settings.

How it works

Start the work. Flip the switch. Walk away.

  1. 1

    Start your build, transfer or session

    Anything that needs the machine to stay up.

  2. 2

    Turn on Keep Mac Awake

    One switch in the menu bar. Set an auto-off timer if you want a hard stop.

  3. 3

    Let it finish

    No babysitting power settings, and nothing left permanently changed afterwards.

Download MacNoSleep

Version 1.0.0 · Universal binary · Requires macOS 14 Sonoma or later

Download for Mac

Signed with a Developer ID certificate and notarised by Apple, so it opens with a normal double-click. Open the disk image and drag MacNoSleep to your Applications folder.

FAQ

Questions worth asking

Does it change my system settings?

Almost nothing. Keeping the Mac awake uses the power assertions macOS provides for exactly this purpose, the same mechanism a video call or a long copy uses. They disappear the moment you turn the session off or quit the app. You can see them yourself by running pmset -g assertions in Terminal.

Closed-lid operation is the one exception, and it is described below.

Why does closed-lid mode ask for my password?

Running with the lid shut is not something an ordinary app is allowed to do. It maps to a system-wide power setting, so MacNoSleep has to ask macOS for administrator approval to change it.

Two things follow from that. The setting is global and survives quitting and rebooting; MacNoSleep turns it back off when you quit, but if the app is force-killed you can clear it yourself with sudo pmset -a disablesleep 0. And a closed laptop with no external display has nowhere to put its heat, so a stand or an external monitor is a good idea for long sessions.

Will it flatten my battery?

Not without warning. If you are on battery power and the charge falls to your chosen floor — 5, 10, 15 or 20 percent — the session pauses on its own and the menu bar icon changes to a warning. It picks back up when you plug in or charge above the threshold. You can also turn the safety net off entirely if you would rather decide for yourself.

Does it collect any data?

No. There is no analytics, no telemetry, no accounts and no network access of any kind. Your settings live in a preferences file on your own Mac. See the privacy policy, which is short.

Is it signed and notarised?

Yes. The app is signed with a Developer ID certificate, built with the hardened runtime, and the disk image has been notarised by Apple and stapled, so it opens with an ordinary double-click and keeps working offline. You can check for yourself with spctl -a -vv /Applications/MacNoSleep.app, which should report source=Notarized Developer ID.

How do I uninstall it?

Quit it from the menu bar and drag the app to the Trash. If you had turned on closed-lid mode, run sudo pmset -a disablesleep 0 first so that setting goes back to normal.