This guide will show you how you can use a small (and completely free) App to make sure your MacBook doesn’t go to sleep when you close the lid.
Please note: the app outlined in this guide has a lot of features. We’re only going to cover one of them – the ability to close the lid to your MacBook and have it stay awake. It’s a very good idea to review all of the support documentation for Amphetamine. There’s also an ‘addon’ app called Amphetamine Enhancer that you may wish to install, as it adds additional features to Amphetamine.
- To get started, download and install the Amphetamine app from the Mac App Store.
- Once installed, launch it from your Applications folder. You’ll be taken through a series of screens that describe Amphetamine and what it can do. Place a check in the box labeled Don’t show this window again so that it doesn’t pop up each time you open Amphetamine.
- The app will appear in your Menu Bar as a circle with a horizontal line through it.
- Click that icon and select Preferences… from the options.
- On the General tab, make sure Launch Amphetamine at login has a check next to it. Depending on how often you want your MacBook to stay awake when you close the lid, you may or may not want to choose Start session when Amphetamine launches. If you’re only going to be using it once in a while, leave this unchecked (and you’ll see how to start a Session in step #8 below).
- Select the Sessions tab at the top of the Preferences screen. Make sure there’s a check in the box labelled Display sleep and make sure Closed-Display Mode is not checked.
- You’ll get a pop-up warning message letting you know the possible negative consequences of allowing your MacBook to stay awake even when the lid is closed. Review the warning message carefully and then click the OK button.
- Turn Amphetamine on (which is also known as “starting a session”) by “right-clicking” it (hold down the ctrl key and click it). You’ll hear a ‘beep’ and the icon will switch from a circle with a horizontal line through it to a circle with a vertical line through it.
- You should now be able to close the lid on your MacBook and it won’t go to sleep. That’s it!
