When your laptop goes to sleep it saves power by turning off the screen and reducing activity. While this helps conserve battery it can be inconvenient if you want your laptop to stay awake during downloads, presentations or other tasks. Knowing how to stop your laptop from sleeping allows you to customise its behaviour to suit your needs.
This guide explains how to prevent your laptop from sleeping on both Windows and macOS.
Stopping Sleep Mode on Windows Laptops
Click the Start menu and open Settings.
Go to System and select Power & sleep.
Under the Sleep section choose Never from the drop-down menus for both On battery power, PC goes to sleep after and When plugged in, PC goes to sleep after.
You can also click Additional power settings to open the Control Panel.
Select your active power plan and click Change plan settings.
Set Put the computer to sleep to Never and save changes.
Stopping Sleep Mode on macOS Laptops
Click the Apple menu and open System Preferences.
Select Battery or Energy Saver depending on your macOS version.
For laptops with Battery settings select Power Adapter tab.
Drag the slider for Turn display off after to Never or set it to a longer time.
Check the box to Prevent computer from sleeping automatically when the display is off.
For older macOS versions under Energy Saver adjust Computer sleep slider to Never.
Using Third-Party Software
There are applications available that keep your laptop awake temporarily by simulating user activity.
Programs like Caffeine for macOS or Keep Awake for Windows allow you to control sleep behaviour easily.
Considerations When Disabling Sleep
Keeping your laptop awake consumes more power and can reduce battery life.
Make sure your laptop has adequate ventilation to prevent overheating if it runs for extended periods.
Use sleep prevention only when necessary to balance convenience and energy efficiency.
Conclusion
Stopping your laptop from sleeping is easy using built-in settings on Windows and macOS. Adjusting power and battery preferences lets you control when your laptop sleeps or stays awake. Third-party apps offer additional flexibility. Managing these settings helps you tailor your laptop’s behaviour for work, entertainment or presentations.