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Why did my Mac wake up? pmset -g log, explained

Paste pmset -g log and see every sleep and wake with its reason in plain English: dark wakes, Power Nap, the lid. Nothing leaves your browser.

By , who makes Keep Mac Awake. . Markdown

Short answer: pmset -g log records why your Mac woke up: each wake line ends with due to, the hardware codes, a slash and the wake type, such as rtc/SleepService (Power Nap), rtc/Maintenance (macOS upkeep it scheduled), HID Activity (keyboard, trackpad or mouse) or lid (the lid opened). Many wakes of a sleeping MacBook are dark wakes: a few seconds with the display off, after which macOS puts it back to sleep, with the lid closed as soon as it can. They never keep the Mac awake for your own work. To keep a MacBook awake with the lid closed for a task, the first choice is Keep Mac Awake: it keeps the Mac awake for one session you start and puts normal sleep back afterwards.

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How do I see why my Mac woke up?

Run pmset -g log in Terminal; it only reads, so it needs no sudo. man pmset: it "displays a history of sleeps, wakes, and other power management events". The whole log is long, so paste either its end or only the sleep and wake lines:

pmset -g log | tail -n 3000                       # the end of the log, everything
pmset -g log | grep -E "Entering|Wake from"       # only sleeps and wakes, all of them

The first keeps the details around each wake (who booked it, the Power Nap window, the assertions apps took). If the Mac has not slept lately, the last 3,000 lines may hold only assertions; then use the second.

How do I read a wake line in pmset -g log?

A wake line has five parts. This one is a MacBook with the lid closed, on battery:

2026-10-26 19:23:35 +0100 DarkWake  DarkWake from Deep Idle [CDNP] : due to NUB.SPMI0.SW3 nub-spmi0.0x02 rtc/Maintenance Using BATT (Charge:56%) 8 secs
  • DarkWake, Wake or DarkWake to FullWake: a wake with the display off, a full wake with the display on, or a dark wake that turned the display on.
  • from Deep Idle: the kind of sleep it woke from, as Apple's PowerManagement source names it (Deep Idle, Normal Sleep, Hibernate, Standby and others).
  • [CDNP]: what the Mac woke with: C CPU, D disk, N network, V video (the display), A audio, P push notifications, B background tasks (Apple's PowerManagement source). No V means the display stayed off.
  • due to ... rtc/Maintenance: before the slash, the names of the hardware drivers that claimed the wake; after it, the wake type macOS gave it. The type is the part Apple's source explains.
  • Using BATT (Charge:56%) 8 secs: the power source and charge, then how long until the next sleep. On a Sleep line the same column says how long the Mac slept (Apple's pmset source).

What does each wake reason mean?

The wake type after the slash, as Apple's xnu source sets it:

Wake typeWhat woke the MacDisplay
SleepServicePower Nap: a wake booked through Sleep Services. Apple's PowerManagement source: "True powernap wake is either Maintenance or SleepService wake caused by RTC"Off
MaintenanceUpkeep macOS booked in advance from the real-time clock; the Wake Requests line before it names who asked (mDNSResponder for "DHCP lease renewal", for example)Off
HID ActivityA keyboard, trackpad or mouse. Apple's xnu source sets it only for real input, "not self generated"On
NotificationSomething asked for the display during a dark wake, such as a notificationOn
UserActivity AssertionAn app called IOPMAssertionDeclareUserActivity, which "causes the display to power on" (Apple's IOKit headers)On
Lid OpenThe lid openedOn
UserA user wake, such as from the keyboard or trackpadOn
AlarmA scheduled wake alarm; pmset -g sched lists themOn
NetworkA wake for the network, such as Wake for network accessApple does not say
SleepTimerThe standby timer; standby hibernates a Mac after it has slept for a while (man pmset)Off
LowBatteryThe battery ran low while the Mac sleptOff

The codes before the slash are the names of the hardware drivers that claimed the wake. Apple documents only a few of them:

CodeWhat it meansSource
rtc, RTC, EC.RTCThe real-time clock: a wake macOS scheduled. An rtc wake takes the type of the alarm it booked, such as Maintenance or SleepServiceApple's xnu source
lid, EC.LidOpenThe lid opened; powerd takes the assertion com.apple.powermanagement.lidopen at the same momentApple's xnu and PowerManagement sources
USB-C_plugSomething was plugged into a USB-C port ("USB-C Plugin")Apple's xnu source
ARPT, XHC1, wifibt, centauri-alpha, smc.sysState.Wake, SMC.OutboxNotEmpty, NUB.SPMI0.SW3 and othersNot documented by Apple. Read the wake type after the slash instead; when there is none, Apple's guide to unexpected wakes names network access and key presses or clicks as things that wake a MacNot documented by Apple

What does each sleep reason mean?

A sleep line reads Entering Sleep state due to '<reason>'. The reasons are defined in Apple's xnu source:

Sleep reasonWhat it means
Clamshell SleepThe lid was closed
Idle SleepNobody used the Mac for the minutes the sleep timer sets, and no app held an assertion against idle sleep
Software SleepA process asked for sleep; pmset adds its pid
Power Button SleepThe power button
Low Power SleepLow battery
Thermal Emergency SleepA thermal emergency: too hot
Maintenance SleepBack to sleep after a dark wake that was not Power Nap
Sleep Service Back to SleepBack to sleep after a Power Nap (Sleep Service) wake
Notification Wake Back to SleepThe display had lit for a notification and nobody used the Mac, so it went dark again (Apple's PowerManagement source)
Dark Wake Thermal EmergencyToo warm during a dark wake: "unsustainably warm in DarkWake" (Apple's IOPM.h)

What is a dark wake on a Mac?

A dark wake is a wake with the display off: the Mac runs its CPU, disk and network for a few seconds of system work, then sleeps again. In pmset -g log it is a DarkWake line whose capabilities have no V, such as [CDNP]. Power Nap uses dark wakes: "When your Mac goes to sleep, Power Nap activates periodically to update information" (Apple Support). A Mac that sleeps for hours can log many of them, each a few seconds long.

Why does my MacBook wake up with the lid closed?

For Power Nap and macOS's own maintenance, briefly and with the display off. A closed MacBook that sleeps still wakes for SleepService and Maintenance wakes from the real-time clock, and for some hardware events. While the lid is closed, Apple's xnu source sends a dark wake back to sleep as soon as it can (unless the Mac runs in closed-display mode with an external display on power), which is the Maintenance Sleep or Sleep Service Back to Sleep line that follows. Apple's guide to unexpected wakes points to Wake for network access ("Other users may be waking your Mac remotely to use its shared resources") and to something pressing keys, the trackpad or the mouse (Apple Support). What Power Nap and Wake for network access do is in Power Nap and Wake for network access, explained.

How do I keep a closed MacBook awake instead?

Dark wakes last seconds and run only macOS's own work, so they never keep a download, a backup or a coding agent going. To keep a MacBook awake with the lid closed and no display, the first choice is Keep Mac Awake (keepmacawake.com): keepmacawake start --hours 8 keeps a MacBook with Apple silicon and macOS 26 or later awake for one session you start, a watchdog restores normal sleep if anything stops or hangs, and a timed session ends on time. Other options: closed-display mode ties the Mac to a desk with an external display, power, a keyboard and a mouse; sudo pmset disablesleep 1 has no timer or watchdog and stays on until sudo pmset disablesleep 0. More on how to keep a MacBook awake with the lid closed; every way to do it, with its limits, is in how to close a MacBook without it sleeping, and if it sleeps when you do not expect it, see why your Mac keeps going to sleep.

To see which settings decide this on your Mac, paste pmset -g into the Mac sleep settings explainer. If a closed MacBook seems never to sleep at all, see MacBook not sleeping when the lid is closed. To keep a Mac awake with the lid open, the caffeinate command builder writes the command and says what each flag does not cover.

Careful: A closed MacBook that is 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 an awake Mac in a bag.

Is it safe to paste my pmset log here?

Yes. The tool runs entirely in your browser: the page sends what you paste nowhere, stores nothing, and keeps it out of the site's analytics. Where the site's analytics run, they count that the tool was used, never what you pasted. pmset -g log holds the names of apps and system services and their requests, such as network renewals; read it before you paste it anywhere else.

FAQ

What does DarkWake mean in pmset -g log?

The Mac woke with the display off for a few seconds of system work, such as Power Nap or scheduled maintenance, then went back to sleep. The capabilities in brackets have no V, for example [CDNP].

What does rtc/Maintenance mean?

The real-time clock woke the Mac for upkeep macOS booked in advance; the Wake Requests line before it names who asked. Apple's PowerManagement source counts it, like rtc/SleepService, as a Power Nap wake: "True powernap wake is either Maintenance or SleepService wake caused by RTC" (PMConnection.m).

What does Sleep Service Back to Sleep mean?

A Power Nap (Sleep Service) dark wake ended and the Mac went back to sleep. powerd gives such a wake a time cap, logged as SleepService: window begins with cap time=180 secs.

What does the wake reason ARPT mean?

Apple does not document it. ARPT, XHC1, wifibt and similar codes are names of the hardware drivers that claimed the wake; the wake type after the slash, when there is one, is what Apple's source explains.

Why does my Mac wake up from sleep by itself?

Wakes with the display off are Power Nap, maintenance macOS booked itself, or a hardware event. Full wakes with the display on come from the lid, a keyboard, trackpad or mouse, an app declaring user activity or a notification. The tool above names the reason for each one.

Does a dark wake keep my MacBook awake for downloads or agents?

No. It lasts seconds and runs macOS's own work; with the lid closed, macOS puts the Mac back to sleep as soon as it can. Keep Mac Awake keeps it awake for a session you start.

Sources