caffeinate and pmset Command Builder for Mac (Free Tool)

Pick what you want your Mac to do and copy the exact Terminal command. caffeinate holds sleep off while a process runs and needs no sudo; pmset changes saved power settings and needs an administrator password. No caffeinate flag keeps a MacBook awake with the lid closed.

caffeinateTemporary, ends with its process

pmsetSaved until you change it back

-t is seconds3600 is one hour

Lid closed?Only disablesleep or a lid app

Clamshell for Mac keeps the Mac awake with the lid closed while armed. No Terminal, no sudo, no monitor. Free for 7 days, then $9.99 once.

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Apple Silicon, macOS 14+. Notarized by Apple. 3.6 MB. Or buy now, $9.99. On your phone? Send the Mac download link to yourself.

Pick a goal, get the command.The builder writes the flags, explains each one from the macOS manuals, and warns you when a command keeps working after you walk away.

Mac sleep commands are easy to get almost right. -t takes seconds, not minutes. -s only counts on AC power. pmset disablesleep stays on after you close Terminal. And no caffeinate flag survives closing a MacBook lid. This free builder writes the command for your goal and tells you how it ends. Every flag description below follows man caffeinate and man pmset on macOS 27.

Build your command

The interactive builder needs JavaScript. Every command it can produce is in the table of common commands below.

What do you want the Mac to do?

Stay awake while a command runscaffeinate -i -w Stay awake for a set timecaffeinate -t Keep the display oncaffeinate -d -u Prevent sleep on AC power onlycaffeinate -s, pmset -c Disable sleep, lid closed toopmset disablesleep 1 Undo or restore defaultsdisablesleep 0, restoredefaults Show current settingspmset -g

Options

Start a new command Follow a running process

Command to run Process ID (PID) Keep the display on too (-d) Keep the disk from idle sleeping (-m) Also prevent system sleep while on AC power (-s)

Your command

caffeinate -i make

Which command stops which kind of sleep

Only one row covers the lid, and it is the one that stays on. Blue dots mean yes, red dashes mean no, and the amber dot means AC power only. caffeinate ends with its process; pmset settings stay until you change them, so every pmset command here comes with its undo.

Common commands

The same commands as the builder, for copying by hand. Replace make with your command and 12345 with a process ID.

Goal	Command	How it ends
Stay awake while a command runs	`caffeinate -i make`	When `make` exits
Stay awake until a running process exits	`caffeinate -i -w 12345`	When process 12345 exits
Stay awake for 1 hour	`caffeinate -i -t 3600`	After 3,600 seconds, or Control-C
Keep the display on	`caffeinate -d -i`	Control-C
Prevent sleep on AC power, temporary	`caffeinate -s`	Control-C; applies only while on AC power
Never idle-sleep on the charger, saved	`sudo pmset -c sleep 0`	`sudo pmset -c sleep 10`, or your old value from `pmset -g custom`
Display never sleeps on the charger, saved	`sudo pmset -c displaysleep 0`	`sudo pmset -c displaysleep 10`, or your old value
Disable all sleep, lid closed too	`sudo pmset -a disablesleep 1`	`sudo pmset -a disablesleep 0`. Closing Terminal does not end it
Stop every caffeinate running as you	`killall caffeinate`	Immediately
Reset every power setting	`sudo pmset restoredefaults`	Resets all settings as a group; there is no one-step undo
Show current settings	`pmset -g`	Read only. Also `pmset -g custom` and `pmset -g assertions`

What every flag means

From man caffeinate. With no flags, caffeinate prevents idle sleep. Given a command, it holds its assertions while that command runs; otherwise until caffeinate itself exits.

-d prevents the display from sleeping.
-i prevents the system from idle sleeping.
-m prevents the disk from idle sleeping.
-s prevents the system from sleeping, and is valid only when the Mac is running on AC power.
-u declares that the user is active. If the display is off, it turns it on. Without -t, this assertion lasts 5 seconds.
-t sets a timeout in seconds, after which the assertion is dropped. It is not used when you give caffeinate a command to run.
-w waits for the process with that PID to exit, then releases the assertion. It is ignored when you give a command.

From man pmset. Changing a setting needs root, so every setting command starts with sudo. Reading never does.

-a, -b, -c apply a setting to all power sources, battery, or the charger (wall power).
sleep is the system sleep timer in minutes; 0 means never. displaysleep is the same for the display.
-g shows the settings in use, -g custom shows them per power source, and -g assertions lists the power assertions holding sleep off.
restoredefaults restores power management settings to their default values, all of them.
disablesleep is not in the manual. It sets the system-wide SleepDisabled flag, which pmset -g reports as one value, not per power source. The pmset disablesleep guide covers what it does.

The manual also notes that changes made through pmset are saved in a persistent preferences file, the same one System Settings uses. That is why a pmset change outlives Terminal, and why the builder always shows an undo.

Before you close the lid on disablesleep. It applies on battery, has no timer and no menu bar indicator, and a running Mac in a bag can heat up and drain its battery. Check pmset -g before you pack the Mac, and see how to undo it if SleepDisabled still reads 1.

When the lid will close

caffeinate alone does not keep a MacBook awake with the lid closed. Its assertions block idle sleep, and closing the lid is a separate sleep path, so the Mac sleeps as soon as the lid shuts, -s included. A pmset sleep timer of 0 has the same limit. The caffeinate lid guide shows why. Your options with the lid closed are Apple's external-display setup, sudo pmset -a disablesleep 1 with its risks, or a lid-closed app.

Clamshell for Mac is the no-Terminal option. It is a menu bar app for Apple Silicon MacBooks on macOS 14 or later that keeps the Mac awake with the lid closed while armed, with no sudo and no external display. It does not use pmset disablesleep and never changes SleepDisabled. While armed it uses the unprivileged IOKit lid sleep-state control plus an idle-sleep assertion, the same kind caffeinate creates. Thermal safety is always on, and the lid change is never saved across a restart.

Clamshell keeps your Mac awake with the lid closed while armed, then returns normal lid sleep when you disarm or quit. Free for 7 days, then $9.99 once for one Mac.

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Apple Silicon, macOS 14+. Notarized by Apple. 3.6 MB. Also on Setapp.

Frequently asked questions

Does caffeinate keep a MacBook awake with the lid closed?

No. caffeinate creates assertions that block idle sleep. Closing the lid is a separate sleep path, so the Mac still sleeps when the lid shuts, whichever flags you use. With the lid closed you need an external display, sudo pmset -a disablesleep 1, or a lid-closed app.

How do I keep my Mac awake for 2 hours from Terminal?

Run caffeinate -i -t 7200. The -t value is in seconds, so 7200 is two hours. The assertion is dropped when the timeout ends, or sooner if you press Control-C. Add -d to keep the display on too.

What is the difference between caffeinate -i and caffeinate -s?

Per the caffeinate manual, -i prevents the system from idle sleeping, and -s prevents the system from sleeping but is valid only when the Mac runs on AC power. Neither overrides lid-close sleep on a MacBook.

How do I stop my Mac sleeping only when it is plugged in?

For a temporary hold, run caffeinate -s, which applies only on AC power and ends when you press Control-C. For a saved setting, run sudo pmset -c sleep 0, which sets the charger's system sleep timer to never until you change it back. Note your old value with pmset -g custom first.

How do I undo pmset changes?

Undo the one setting you changed: sudo pmset -a disablesleep 0 for disablesleep, or sudo pmset -c sleep followed by your old number of minutes for a sleep timer. sudo pmset restoredefaults resets every power management setting as a group, so use it only if you want all of them back at their defaults.

Is there a way to keep a closed MacBook awake without Terminal?

Yes. Clamshell for Mac is a menu bar app for Apple Silicon MacBooks on macOS 14 or later that keeps the Mac awake with the lid closed while armed, with no sudo and no external display. It does not use pmset disablesleep, and the lid change is never saved across a restart. It costs $9.99 once after a free 7-day trial.

Related guides

Sources checked October 15, 2026: the caffeinate(8), pmset(1), killall(1) and pgrep(1) manual pages on macOS 27.0, and the non-sudo commands run on an Apple Silicon MacBook. Commands that change settings were not run for this page; their behavior follows the manuals and the guides linked above. The builder runs entirely in your browser and sends nothing anywhere. Clamshell is the publisher of this page.