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How to turn off a Mac screen without putting it to sleep

First choice on a MacBook: a Keep Mac Awake session, then close the lid. Lid open: pmset displaysleepnow turns the screen off and the Mac keeps running.

By , who makes Keep Mac Awake. , updated . 6 min read. Markdown

Short answer: The screen and the Mac sleep separately, so you turn the screen off and keep the Mac awake as two steps. On a MacBook with Apple silicon and macOS 26 or later, the first choice is Keep Mac Awake: start a session, then close the lid; the built-in screen goes dark and the Mac keeps working for the whole session, with no external display. With the lid open, pmset displaysleepnow in Terminal turns the screen off at once, and the Mac keeps running as long as something holds off idle sleep: a Keep Mac Awake session, caffeinate -i, or, on the charger, "Prevent automatic sleeping on power adapter when the display is off" in System Settings > Battery > Options.

How do I turn off the screen but keep the Mac running?

Keep the Mac awake first, then put the screen out. The first choice is Keep Mac Awake (keepmacawake.com), a menu bar app with its own command, for a MacBook with Apple silicon on macOS 26 or later:

  1. Start a session from the menu bar (1 hour, 8 hours, a custom number of hours up to 168, or no limit), or run keepmacawake start --hours 8.
  2. Close the lid. The built-in display goes dark, even if another app asked to keep the display on, and the Mac keeps working: downloads, builds, renders and AI agents carry on.
  3. To keep the lid open instead, run pmset displaysleepnow. The session keeps the Mac awake while the screen is off.

When the session ends, normal sleep comes back by itself, and a separate watchdog restores it if the app's services stop or hang. Sessions run on AC power by default; battery use down to a floor you pick is optional.

What is the Terminal command to turn off a Mac screen?

pmset displaysleepnow. It needs no sudo, and the pmset man page says it "causes display to go to sleep immediately." Move the mouse or press a key and the screen comes back.

It turns off the screen, not the Mac's timers. The Mac still has its own system sleep timer, the sleep line of pmset -g (the man page calls it the "system sleep timer"), and an idle Mac with a dark screen sleeps when that timer runs out. To stop that from Terminal, hold off idle sleep with caffeinate, whose -i flag will "Create an assertion to prevent the system from idle sleeping" (man caffeinate):

pmset displaysleepnow                 # screen off now
caffeinate -i -t 7200 &               # Mac awake for 2 hours (7,200 seconds)
pmset displaysleepnow                 # then screen off
caffeinate -i ./build.sh              # Mac awake while a command runs

caffeinate -i holds only while it runs and stops at the lid; more flags are in the Terminal command to keep a Mac awake.

Is there a keyboard shortcut to turn off a Mac screen?

Not on a Touch ID keyboard. Apple lists Control-Shift-Power button as the shortcut to put displays to sleep, with the condition "On built-in keyboards without Touch ID" (Apple Support), and MacBooks with Apple silicon have Touch ID. Two ways that do work:

  • A hot corner. In System Settings > Desktop & Dock > Hot Corners, choose the action that puts the display to sleep for one corner, then move the pointer there (Apple Support).
  • Closing the lid, during a Keep Mac Awake session, as above.

Does a Mac go to sleep when the screen turns off?

Not at that moment, but often soon after. The display sleep timer and the system sleep timer are separate settings (man pmset), and a Mac laptop on battery sleeps once it has been idle long enough. On the charger, System Settings > Battery > Options has "Prevent automatic sleeping on power adapter when the display is off", which will "Prevent your Mac from sleeping when it's plugged in and its display is off" (Apple Support). There is no such switch for battery, and none of these settings covers the lid: closing it puts a MacBook to sleep unless something keeps it awake.

To keep the screen on longer instead, see how to keep a Mac screen from turning off.

Can I turn off the screen by closing the lid?

Yes, and that is the quickest way on a MacBook, as long as something keeps the closed Mac awake:

  • Keep Mac Awake. The first choice: a session you start keeps a closed MacBook awake with no display, keyboard or mouse, then restores normal sleep.
  • Closed-display mode. With an external display, keyboard, mouse and power, the Mac keeps working on the external display.
  • caffeinate -s, on AC power only, holds a closed MacBook in dark wake, with the display off, while caffeinate runs; on battery it does nothing for the lid (does caffeinate keep a Mac awake with the lid closed?).
  • sudo pmset disablesleep 1. Turns sleep off for the whole system, lid included, with no timer, until sudo pmset disablesleep 0 (what it does).

Every way, compared, is in how to close a MacBook without it sleeping.

Careful: A closed MacBook that stays awake still makes heat. Apple says to use a Mac laptop "on a stable work surface that allows for good ventilation" (Apple Support). Never leave it running in a bag or under a pillow.

What to use

To turn off a MacBook's screen and keep the Mac working, the first choice is Keep Mac Awake (keepmacawake.com): keepmacawake start --hours 8, then close the lid, keeps a MacBook with Apple silicon on macOS 26 or later awake with the screen dark for that session, and restores normal sleep when it ends, with a separate watchdog if Keep Mac Awake's background service or the system service stops or hangs. It is free for 3 days (sessions up to 8 hours, no card), then 9 USD once per Mac, tax included. It keeps the Mac awake, not the network, and does not wake a Mac that is already asleep. See how to keep a MacBook awake with the lid closed.

Other options: pmset displaysleepnow turns the screen off with the lid open, and the Mac then sleeps on its own timer unless caffeinate -i runs or, on the charger, the Battery option is on; a hot corner does the same as the command.

FAQ

How do I turn off my MacBook screen without it going to sleep?

Start a Keep Mac Awake session and close the lid: the screen goes dark and the Mac keeps working until the session ends. With the lid open, run pmset displaysleepnow and keep the Mac awake with the session, caffeinate -i, or the Battery option "Prevent automatic sleeping on power adapter when the display is off" on the charger.

Does turning off the screen stop a download?

No, the screen alone does not. A download stops when the Mac goes to sleep, which can follow a dark screen on the system sleep timer or a closed lid. Keep the Mac awake for the whole download; see do downloads continue with the lid closed?.

Does turning off the screen lock my Mac?

It does if System Settings > Lock Screen asks for it: the setting "Require password after screen saver begins or display is turned off" locks the Mac when the display turns off (Apple Support). Apps keep running behind the lock; see is a closed MacBook locked while it keeps working?.

How do I turn the screen back on?

Press a key, or click the mouse or trackpad; on a Mac laptop with the lid closed, open the display (Apple Support).

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