Home Forums Mac Software Mac Operating Systems How keep display from coming on when sleep

I find my display keeps coming on even though I set computer to sleep.

And often I just set just the display off, and let computer run all night but then to, the display will come on. ANy ideas thanks!

If it's waking from sleep, chances are that you've got some task set to wake it if it's sleeping when said task is ready to run.

When you "set just the display off," how do you do it? It may come on for the same reason.

It might also be waking because of network access. In System Preferences > Energy Saver try turning off Wake for network access.

Thanks ARtie/ Joe.

I set display off with command, option, eject.

Joe...Well, I'm actually just turning off the display. So super duper can run in middle of night, and soon.. (malwarebytes)

Ok I'll try that, but you think it's waking for network access you mean internet or something? or super duper..? or not sure.. But some nights makes it through without waking..

OK just looked 'wake for network access" was already turned off. I"m thinking.. maybe the commotion of super duper.. or something else jolts the display back on? I know one light touch of keyboard does that.. but no one is in room, hence.. I'm baffled.

But also maybe if just display is off -- maybe it's more touchy to come back on?

Here's another possibility (this has happened to me):

An electrical surge (do you have a surge protector or, better still, a UPS?) can wake the computer. Is your electrical supply stable? If the lights dim occasionally, for no apparent reason, that could be an indicator of instability.

As I think about it, the real question may be why doesn't the display go back to sleep? Surely System Preferences > Energy Saver is set to turn the display off after a reasonable length of inactivity, or isn't it?

Thanks J/ Joe.

J, funny because of previous thread. Joe's good advice, I just bought a brand new Belkin up to 32k Joues surge protector for computer and threw out very old one. Can it be surge still? Dont' know.. but happened 2 night in a row.

Joe: I've been setting that display to never go back to sleep, and, never even go back to screensaver mode. I've always liked seeing that display on all day long and then either putting to sleep computer or display manually at night. But maybe I should set that display to do to screensaver then? Just tedious to tap keyboard on during day a lot..

No matter how good a surge protector is, it only protects against voltage spikes and spikes are only 1 of the 5 common power problems, which are...

1. Voltage Spike: a sudden impulse of very high voltage (probably the most common problem and certainly the most widely marketed)
2. voltage surges: voltage rising to over 125 or so volts for an extended time
3. power dropouts momentary power loss generally far less than a second (probably more common that you might imagine)
4. brownouts: voltage falling to under 90 or 100 volts (California in the summer)
5. complete power failure

Apple uses sophisticated switching power supplies (even the little iPhone chargers are crammed with circuitry) that will generally prevent system damage from voltage surges or brownouts. That still leaves you vulnerable to dropouts, power failure, and to a lesser extent surges and brownouts.

A surge protector, no matter how good, generally only protects your system from voltage Spikes and maybe extended surges (read the specs very carefully). Surge protecters are the first line of power defense and the most vulnerable because a truly major spike, like a nearby lightning strike, will often (usually?) fry one — but you may never know it has given its life to protect your computer until there is another major surge and it doesn't work.

Some high end surge protectors (read that as expensive and heavy) provide AVR (Automatic Voltage Regulation) through the use of toroidal coil transformers (these are what makes them so heavy) so that given a voltage input of anywhere between 90 to 130 volts will maintain a relatively constant 120 - 125 volt output. The Toroidal coil transformer also has what could be described as a flywheel effect that suppresses short dropouts. Such devices are difficult, if not impossible, to find these days however.

a UPS (Uninteruptable Power Supply) with its built in battery backup provides protection for most power conditions but depending on how it is designed and the quality of the switching circuitry it may be vulnerable to dropouts and/or if you are in a situation or area where the power is erratic you may find the battery has run down just when you need it most. The optimum solution is a UPS with AVR, which makes most swithovers to battery power unnecessary, not only extending run time but also extending battery life.

In the situation Jon described a dropout would be the most likely power related suspect, and your Surge Protector is useless in that situation. NOTE: Because power companies try to minimize disturbance to their customers, dropouts are often the result of late night repairs and switchovers.

Mind you I am not saying I think that is the problem, but if I were rounding up the usual suspects dropouts would definitely be on my list.

Great info JOe, now also, as saying...

My display is set to never go back to sleep or screensaver mode. I've always liked seeing that display on all day what do you choose or recommend?

With non-CRT displays, that is, our current modern displays, burn-in is not a problem. We don't have to worry about the screen keeping an image of something that is no longer there. From my perspective, the only advantage to a screen/computer going to sleep or a screen saver display is savings in energy and entertainment, respectively.

Thanks Ira, great. So I'm just setting the display to sleep, not computer, and getting work down in night, like cloning hard drives. Still display goes on, and the imac is in my bedroom.

Which is why I have my monitors set to sleep when I am not around my office. Too much light!

Joe, you have them 'set to sleep' ... you are saying, they should be black, but you have same issue, they pop on sometimes?

I am saying that I have my monitors set to sleep after a period of time (offhand I think it is 30 minutes) because my computers are almost never turned off and I don't want the office brightly lit all night.

As to the issue, on very rare occasions I will come in and find the monitor on. No explanation and no obvious glitch, power or otherwise. It has been that way for many years now. 🤷‍♂️

Thanks Joe good point. Who knows why on.

You can't do work though right, cloning etc with monitor sleeping correct? Has to be on..

Dave at SD saying: "Yes, do read the blog post again. But the idea is that you just let the display time out normally and you set it to not sleep."

And there is a blog post, but I don't understand it, maybe you can help:

https://www.shirt-pocket.com/blog/index.php/comments/the_best_ui_is_no_ui/

Don't confuse the monitor sleeping with the computer sleeping.

There are any number of things that go on at night (or during the day for that matter) while the monitor is asleep, including — but not limited to:

• routine system housecleaning tasks
• Time Machine backups
• automatic Carbon Copy Cloner or SuperDuper clones
• checking email
• receiving messages
• malware scans
• basically any task that does not require manual input from the keyboard, mouse, or trackpad and is launched by a timer action. NOTE: tasks that write to the display will wake the display unless that task is hidden

The SuperDuper option is for cases where the computer is asleep as opposed to times when only the monitor is asleep. My computers are set to Never sleep. which admittedly uses more energy, but is a habit of long standing going back to a time when there were routine tasks that would not run unless the computer was on.

Thanks Joe, what are your energy saver settings for the 2 sliders? That is strategy.... for the night and cloning

To call my settings a strategy would grossly overstate the case. Back in the day, (circa 2001) when I deleted Mac OS 9.2 from my system in favor of MacOS 10.0 (Cheetah), I discovered there were several so-called chron tasks that ran at approximately 3:00 AM and cleaned up the various system files on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis — IF the system was on at 3:00 AM. Otherwise those needed to be run manually from time to time and thus several well known and hallowed utilities such as OnyX were born. Being too absent-minded to remember to run the Chron tasks manually, I simply chose to leave my system running 24x365 and have done so ever since.

As to the monitor settings, I see no point in lighting up the room, but I do enjoy the Aerial screen saver (created for Apple TV) and that determines that setting.

FWIW, you can see my settings here and here.

NOTE: Since we had discussed MalwareBytes at great length you might fine this interesting. As I was typing this post, MalwareBytes popped up to notify me it had quarantined a malware file. This was the first time that had happened. When I clicked on "show" in the notification banner it took me to the quarantine folder and offered to delete the file (which I did). The specific malware was GENIEO and I have no idea where I might have contacted it.

Just as a side note I"ll mention that AOL recently offered me 30 free days of (a PC version of) Malwarebytes Premium.

Then again, though, they offered me a(n undisclosed) free trial period of Norton Security Online two months ago.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Joe, funny cause Adam, of Malware was answering all my questions, and then when finally went to ask a final few before diving is he has vanished, and I sent company and email no response. They went from great customer service to zero, weird.

No if you did not have Malwarebytes what would have happened. Remember I don't have it, and I not getting anything. Ignorance is bliss.. or I'll get it later?


I figured this out. I was always using an app called sleep display.

Catalina annihilated that app so went back to keyboard shortcut, and instead of using shift, control, eject; I was using option, command, eject (which I’m more used to) which sleeps computer not display.

I never new either keyboard sequence existed and simply relied on the settings to do their thing.

I use that shortcut regularly and it sleeps both the computer AND the display.

I'll guess that kevs meant "not just display."

There's no way to sleep the computer but not the display.

Yeah I want to sleep display only : option, command, eject.

I was doing sleep computer. Anyone know of app? There was sleep display in my dick, one mouse click boom display sleeps . no longer works.

Up above you said that option, command, eject sleeps the computer, not just the display.

To sleep my display I've set a hot corner in System Prefs > Desktop & Screen Saver > Hot Corners....