How to put your Mac to sleep
The Apple menu works on every Mac. The keyboard shortcuts depend on your keyboard, and on a Mac with Touch ID there isn't one at all until you make it.
The short answer
Any Mac: Apple menu › Sleep, or close the lid. Keyboard without Touch ID: Option–Command–Power, or hold the power button for 1.5 seconds. Keyboard with Touch ID: no built-in shortcut; make one in System Settings › Keyboard › Keyboard Shortcuts › App Shortcuts. Terminal: pmset sleepnow.
Every way, at a glance
| How | Works on |
|---|---|
| Apple menu › Sleep | Every Mac |
| Close the lid | MacBooks, unless clamshell mode keeps them awake |
| Option–Command–Power | Built-in keyboards without Touch ID |
| Hold the power button for 1.5 seconds | Built-in keyboards without Touch ID |
| Control–Power, then Sleep | Built-in keyboards without Touch ID |
| A shortcut you make in App Shortcuts | Every Mac, including Touch ID keyboards |
pmset sleepnow in Terminal | Every Mac |
Apple's own list is in Mac keyboard shortcuts.
Make a sleep shortcut on a Touch ID Mac
On a keyboard with Touch ID, the power button locks the screen, and Apple lists no sleep shortcut. You can add one, because macOS lets you assign keys to any menu item, including Sleep in the Apple menu:
- Open System Settings › Keyboard › Keyboard Shortcuts…
- Choose App Shortcuts and click +.
- Set Application to All Applications.
- Type
Sleepas the menu title. Spell it exactly as it appears in the Apple menu. - Click the shortcut field and press your keys. For example Control–Option–Command–S. Then click Done.
Pick a combination no app already uses, or that app's command wins while it's in front.
Sleep just the display
Sometimes you want the screen dark and the Mac still working: a download, a render, an AI agent finishing a task.
- Hot corner: System Settings › Desktop & Dock › Hot Corners…, set a corner to Put Display to Sleep, then flick the pointer into it.
- Keyboard without Touch ID: Control–Shift–Power.
- Terminal:
pmset displaysleepnow.
Whether the Mac then sleeps on its own depends on your sleep settings. To keep it working with the screen off until the job is done, Midnight Oil's Allow display sleep does exactly that.
From Terminal or a script
pmset sleepnow # sleep now
pmset displaysleepnow # just the display
sleep 1800; pmset sleepnow # sleep in 30 minutesNone of these need an admin password. To sleep at a set time, or once a job finishes, see how to set a sleep timer.
Mac wakes right back up?
If it sleeps and comes straight back, something is waking it: the network, a USB device, or a scheduled wake. If it won't go to sleep at all, an app is holding it awake. Both are covered in Mac won't sleep.
Questions
What is the keyboard shortcut to put a Mac to sleep?
On a built-in keyboard without Touch ID, Option–Command–Power, or hold the power button for 1.5 seconds. Keyboards with Touch ID have no built-in sleep shortcut; pressing the power button locks the screen instead. You can add your own in System Settings › Keyboard › Keyboard Shortcuts › App Shortcuts.
How do I make a sleep shortcut on a MacBook with Touch ID?
Open System Settings › Keyboard › Keyboard Shortcuts › App Shortcuts, click +, choose All Applications, type Sleep as the menu title exactly as it appears in the Apple menu, and press the keys you want, such as Control–Option–Command–S.
How do I put just the screen to sleep?
Set a hot corner to Put Display to Sleep in System Settings › Desktop & Dock › Hot Corners, or press Control–Shift–Power on a keyboard without Touch ID. The Mac keeps running; only the display turns off.
How do I put a Mac to sleep from Terminal?
Run pmset sleepnow. It works immediately, without an admin password, even while music or video is playing.
What's the difference between sleep and lock screen?
Locking (Control–Command–Q, or the power button on Touch ID keyboards) hides your desktop behind the login screen but keeps the Mac running. Sleep pauses the whole Mac to save power.
More guides
Sleep when you say so.
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