--- title: Render with the MacBook lid closed description: A closed MacBook sleeps, so renders and exports stop, in HandBrake and Blender too. Keep Mac Awake keeps it awake with the lid closed until the job ends. date: 2026-10-30 kicker: Render and export section: The closed lid, explained related: macbook-lid-closed-heat-and-battery, keep-mac-awake-without-an-app, prevent-macbook-sleep-lid-closed --- > **Short answer:** No export or render runs while a MacBook sleeps, and closing the lid puts it to sleep: Final Cut Pro, HandBrake, Blender and other video and 3D apps stop until the Mac wakes. Some of them keep the Mac awake while they work, but only against sleep after inactivity, and Apple notes that the system may still sleep for lid close. To let a long export or render finish with the lid closed, keep the Mac awake on power; the first choice is Keep Mac Awake, which keeps a MacBook awake with the lid closed and no external display for the hours you pick, then restores normal sleep. ## Does a MacBook keep exporting when the lid is closed? No. Apple lists "On a Mac laptop, close the display" as one of the ways to put a Mac to sleep ([Apple Support](https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/put-your-mac-to-sleep-or-wake-it-mh10330/26.0/mac/26.0)), and while a Mac sleeps, no app runs. An export, a render queue or a batch encode stops where it is. Whether it continues after the Mac wakes, starts over or fails depends on the app; do not count on it for a deadline. ## Doesn't the app keep the Mac awake while it exports? Some apps do, with the lid open. HandBrake's macOS queue, for example, creates a power assertion of the type `kIOPMAssertPreventUserIdleSystemSleep` with the reason "HandBrake is currently scanning and/or encoding" while it works ([HandBrake source](https://github.com/HandBrake/HandBrake/blob/e1c859f40496495fbda15846df5014f211857b52/macosx/HBQueue.m#L635-L646)). That is an idle-sleep assertion, and Apple's developer documentation for it says: "The system may still sleep for lid close, Apple menu, low battery, or other sleep reasons" ([Apple developer docs](https://developer.apple.com/documentation/iokit/kiopmassertiontypepreventuseridlesystemsleep)). So an app that holds the Mac awake protects an export from the idle timer, not from the lid. To see which apps hold such an assertion during your export, run `pmset -g assertions` in Terminal. ## How do I export from Final Cut Pro with the lid closed? Start the share, keep the Mac awake, then close the lid. Final Cut Pro does rendering and sharing as background tasks, and Apple notes: "If you actively use Final Cut Pro while background tasks are running, the background tasks are paused. The tasks resume when you stop using Final Cut Pro." You can follow them in Window > Background Tasks, or with Command-9 ([Apple Support](https://support.apple.com/guide/final-cut-pro/ver64e71609/mac), as of October 2026). 1. Plug the Mac into power and put it on a hard surface with air around it. 2. Start a Keep Mac Awake session from the menu bar app, or in Terminal: `keepmacawake start --hours 4`. 3. In Final Cut Pro, choose File > Share and start the export; check that it appears in Background Tasks. 4. Close the lid. The session ends on time and normal sleep returns. The same steps work for DaVinci Resolve's render queue, Adobe Premiere Pro or Media Encoder, Compressor and HandBrake: keep the Mac awake first, then start the job, then close the lid. ## How do I render in Blender with the lid closed? From Terminal, with the Mac kept awake. Blender's manual shows rendering a whole animation "in the background (without UI)" with `blender -b file.blend -a`, and on macOS the program is inside the app bundle at `/Applications/Blender.app/Contents/MacOS` ([Blender manual](https://docs.blender.org/manual/en/latest/advanced/command_line/render.html), [launching on macOS](https://docs.blender.org/manual/en/latest/advanced/command_line/launch/macos.html)): ```sh keepmacawake start --hours 8 # awake with the lid closed for 8 hours /Applications/Blender.app/Contents/MacOS/Blender -b scene.blend -a keepmacawake stop # normal sleep again when the render is done ``` With the lid open, caffeinate -i in front of the same command keeps the Mac out of idle sleep until Blender exits (`man caffeinate`); it does not cover the lid. ## What does Keep Mac Awake do and not do here? It keeps a MacBook with Apple silicon on macOS 26 or later awake with the lid closed and no display, keyboard or mouse, for a session you start; nothing about the export itself changes. It does not speed up a render, keep Wi-Fi or any network connection alive (an upload to a server or a shared drive needs the network), or wake a Mac that is already asleep, so start the session before you close the lid. Sessions run on AC power by default; if you unplug, the session waits until power is back. To upload the finished video, see [can I close my laptop while uploading to YouTube](/blog/close-laptop-uploading-youtube-video). ## Is it safe to render with the lid closed? Yes, with power and air, but a render is heavy work and a closed MacBook still makes heat. Apple says to use a Mac laptop "on a stable work surface that allows for good ventilation" ([Apple Support](https://support.apple.com/en-us/102336)). > **Careful:** Never close a rendering Mac into a bag or leave it under a pillow or on a bed. On AC power, heat is left to macOS; on battery, a Keep Mac Awake session also ends at a serious thermal state or at the battery floor you pick. For long renders, stay plugged in. More in [is clamshell mode bad for a MacBook: heat and battery](/blog/macbook-lid-closed-heat-and-battery). ## What to use To let an export or a render finish with the MacBook lid closed, the first choice is Keep Mac Awake (keepmacawake.com): `keepmacawake start --hours 4` keeps a MacBook with Apple silicon on macOS 26 or later awake with the lid closed and no display for that time, on AC power by default, then restores normal sleep, with a separate watchdog if anything stops or hangs. See how to [keep a MacBook awake with the lid closed](/). Other options: closed-display mode keeps a closed Mac awake but needs a display, keyboard, mouse and power ([Apple Support](https://support.apple.com/en-us/102501)). `sudo pmset disablesleep 1` is system-wide, has no timer, battery floor or watchdog, and stays on until `sudo pmset disablesleep 0` ([what it does](/blog/pmset-disablesleep)). With the lid open only, "Prevent automatic sleeping on power adapter when the display is off" in System Settings > Battery > Options or caffeinate -i stop sleep after inactivity; neither covers the lid ([without an app](/blog/keep-mac-awake-without-an-app), [every way compared](/blog/prevent-macbook-sleep-lid-closed)). ## FAQ ### Does Final Cut Pro keep exporting with the lid closed? Not while the Mac sleeps, and closing the lid puts it to sleep. Keep the Mac awake for the export; the first choice with the lid closed and no display is a Keep Mac Awake session. ### Does HandBrake prevent sleep on a Mac? It prevents idle sleep while it scans or encodes, with an assertion named "HandBrake is currently scanning and/or encoding". That does not stop sleep when you close the lid. ### Does Blender render in sleep mode on a Mac? No. A sleeping Mac runs no app, so a Blender render stops when the Mac sleeps and closing the lid puts a MacBook to sleep. Start a Keep Mac Awake session, then run `Blender -b file.blend -a` and close the lid. ### Can I close my MacBook while rendering? Only if something keeps it awake with the lid closed. Start a Keep Mac Awake session before you close it, keep it on power and give it air. ### How do I keep my Mac awake during a render? With the lid open, the Battery option above or caffeinate -i. With the lid closed, a Keep Mac Awake session, such as `keepmacawake start --hours 4`. ## Sources - [Final Cut Pro User Guide: View background tasks](https://support.apple.com/guide/final-cut-pro/ver64e71609/mac) (read 2026-10-30) - [HandBrake source: HBQueue.m](https://github.com/HandBrake/HandBrake/blob/e1c859f40496495fbda15846df5014f211857b52/macosx/HBQueue.m) (read 2026-10-30) - Blender manual: [Rendering from the command line](https://docs.blender.org/manual/en/latest/advanced/command_line/render.html), [Launching on macOS](https://docs.blender.org/manual/en/latest/advanced/command_line/launch/macos.html) (read 2026-10-30) - Apple Mac User Guide for macOS Tahoe 26: [Put your Mac to sleep or wake it](https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/put-your-mac-to-sleep-or-wake-it-mh10330/26.0/mac/26.0), [Change Battery settings](https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/change-battery-settings-mchlfc3b7879/26/mac/26) - [Apple developer docs: kIOPMAssertionTypePreventUserIdleSystemSleep](https://developer.apple.com/documentation/iokit/kiopmassertiontypepreventuseridlesystemsleep) - [Apple Support: If your external display is dark or low resolution](https://support.apple.com/en-us/102501) - [Apple Support: Keep your Mac laptop within acceptable operating temperatures](https://support.apple.com/en-us/102336) - man pmset and [man caffeinate](https://github.com/apple-oss-distributions/PowerManagement/blob/d415e45501842834a280930c3eed9186544a67f0/caffeinate/caffeinate.8) (Apple open source) - [Keep Mac Awake: command line](https://keepmacawake.com/command-line.md)