To keep a Mac awake for a while without changing your settings, open Terminal and run caffeinate -t 3600: the Mac won't go to idle sleep for an hour (3,600 seconds), then behaves as usual. Add -d to keep the screen on too. To change the default for good, raise the sleep and display timers in System Settings. For a timer you start in two clicks and can see at a glance, a keep-awake app does the job; Toolnotch's Staywake puts one in the notch with 30 minutes, 1 hour, 3 hours or « Until I stop it ».

Here are the three ways, and when each one fits.

Option 1: change the Energy settings

Use this when you want the Mac to stay awake longer every day, not just this once.

On a MacBook (macOS Sequoia and later):

  1. System Settings › Lock Screen: set « Turn display off on battery when inactive » and « Turn display off on power adapter when inactive » to a longer time, or Never.
  2. System Settings › Battery › Options: turn on « Prevent automatic sleeping on power adapter when the display is off » if you want the Mac to keep working with the screen dark while plugged in.

On an iMac, Mac mini or Mac Studio: System Settings › Energy has « Prevent automatic sleeping when the display is off ». The display timer is under Lock Screen as well.

The catch: it's permanent until you change it back. A MacBook left on battery with long timers drains, and a screen that never turns off ages faster. Most people want « awake for the next hour », not « awake forever ».

Option 2: caffeinate -t in Terminal

caffeinate is built into macOS. It holds the Mac awake while it runs, and -t makes it stop by itself.

caffeinate -t 1800        # 30 minutes, no idle sleep
caffeinate -d -t 3600     # 1 hour, screen stays on too
caffeinate -i             # until you press Control-C

The flags that matter:

  • -i prevents idle sleep of the system. It's what caffeinate does when you give no flag.
  • -d prevents the display from sleeping.
  • -t sets the time in seconds. Without it, caffeinate runs until you press ⌃C or close the Terminal window.
  • -s prevents sleep only on power, and -u declares you active (it wakes the display); you rarely need either.

To keep the Mac awake while one command runs instead of for a fixed time, put caffeinate in front of it: caffeinate -i ./backup.sh. That case has its own guide.

Where it stops being handy:

  • You need a Terminal window open for the whole session, or a & and a kill later.
  • Nothing on screen tells you it's running or how long is left.
  • It ignores the battery: an hour on a MacBook at 15 % may end with the Mac shutting down instead.

Option 3: a keep-awake app

Menu bar apps such as Amphetamine (free, in the Mac App Store) wrap the same mechanism in a menu: pick a duration, see it running, stop it with a click. Amphetamine also has triggers for apps, downloads and displays, and many settings. If you want all of that, it's a good choice.

Toolnotch's take is smaller and lives in the notch, next to the other tools you use all day.

Staywake: a timer in the notch

Staywake is the keep-awake part of Toolnotch. You start it from the hub, the panel that opens when you click the notch (or press ⌃⌥N from anywhere).

  1. Click the notch. In the hub's footer, left of Settings, Notchi's head dozes in grey beside « Stay awake ».
  2. Click him. A menu opens: « 30 minutes », « 1 hour », « 3 hours », « Until I stop it », and « Keep the screen on ».
  3. Pick one. His eyes open in orange and the footer shows the time left: « 1 h », then « 47 min », down to « 1 min ». An open-ended session shows ∞.
  4. When the hub closes, the notch confirms it: « Awake for 1 h », with « Screen stays on » if you chose that, and a Cancel button for a few seconds in case you clicked the wrong line.

That's the whole interaction. There's no settings page to visit first.

Before it ends

Five minutes before the end, the notch says « Awake 5 more min » with a countdown and a « +1 h » button. One click adds an hour, which is what you want when the presentation runs long or the download isn't done. Ignore it and the session ends: « Your Mac can sleep », and Notchi dozes off again.

Stopping early

Click Notchi in the hub's footer and choose Stop. The session also shows in Settings › Staywake as « Awake 47 min more », with a Stop button.

Battery

With « Stop when the battery is low » on, which is the default, a session ends when a MacBook on battery reaches 20 %, or when you unplug it at 20 % or less. The notch says « Battery low · Your Mac can sleep again ». If you start a session while already below 20 %, Staywake assumes you meant it and gives you your hour.

The screen

By default Staywake keeps the Mac awake and lets the display turn off on its usual timer, which is fine for a download or an export. Tick « Keep the screen on » in the menu for a presentation, a recipe on the kitchen counter or a dashboard on a second monitor.

Limits

  • Closing the lid sleeps a MacBook unless it's on power with an external display. Neither caffeinate nor Staywake changes that.
  • Three fixed durations. 30 minutes, 1 hour and 3 hours, plus open-ended and « +1 h » near the end. There's no custom duration such as 2 h 15; use caffeinate -t for that.
  • No schedules. Staywake doesn't start at a set time of day. Its automatic mode starts by itself while a terminal command works; see keeping a Mac awake during builds.
  • It's a manual session. Staywake doesn't move the mouse or fake activity. Apps that watch your activity, such as a chat app's « away » status, still see you as idle.

Setting it up

  1. Download Toolnotch from toolnotch.app and open it. It runs on macOS 15 Sequoia or later.
  2. Click the notch, then Notchi in the footer.

Staywake comes with every Toolnotch licence, along with the clipboard history, the window manager and break reminders (pricing).

FAQ

What's the quickest way to keep a Mac awake for an hour?

In Terminal, caffeinate -t 3600. With Toolnotch, click the notch, click Notchi, choose « 1 hour ».

Does keeping the Mac awake keep the screen on?

Not by default, with either tool. Use caffeinate -d, or « Keep the screen on » in Staywake's menu.

Does a session survive a Toolnotch update?

Yes. When Toolnotch relaunches after an update, a running session comes back with the time it had left.

How do I check what is keeping my Mac awake?

Run pmset -g assertions in Terminal. Staywake's shows as « Toolnotch Staywake », caffeinate's under its own name.

Does it work on a Mac without a notch?

Yes. On a display without a notch, the hub hangs from the middle of the menu bar, and ⌃⌥N opens it.