How to Prevent Your Mac from Sleeping When External Monitor Lid Closed

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Are you looking for a way to keep your Mac from sleeping when the lid is closed? With an external monitor, you can easily keep your Mac awake while the lid is closed. This is especially useful if you want to use your Mac with an external display but don’t want to leave the lid open.

To prevent your Mac from sleeping when the lid is closed, you’ll need to adjust some settings in the Energy Saver preferences. Here’s how:

Open System Preferences and click on Energy Saver. On the left side of the window, select Power Adapter. Uncheck all of the checkboxes under Turn display off when inactive except for Put hard disk(s) to sleep when possible. This will prevent your Mac from sleeping when it’s plugged in and not being used.

Next, go to Battery and uncheck all of the checkboxes except for Prevent computer from sleeping automatically when the display is off. This will ensure that your Mac doesn’t go into sleep mode when it’s running on battery power and the lid is closed.

Finally, make sure that Clamshell mode is enabled by checking its box under Battery or Power Adapter (depending on if you’re using battery or power). This setting allows your laptop to stay active even if its lid is closed while it’s connected to an external monitor or projector.

With these settings adjusted, you can now close your laptop’s lid without worrying about it going into sleep mode. Your Mac will stay awake as long as it’s connected to an external display and has sufficient power—either battery or wall socket—to run itself.

How to Prevent Your Mac from Sleeping When External Monitor Lid Closed 1

Preventing Mac from Sleeping When External Monitor is Closed

To make sure your Mac does not sleep when you close your external monitor, follow these steps:
1. Open System Preferences.
2. Select Energy Saver.
3. Uncheck the box marked ‘Put hard disks to sleep when possible’.
4. Uncheck the box marked ‘Enable Power Nap’ (if it is checked).
5. Uncheck the box marked ‘Wake for Wi-Fi network access’ (if it is checked).
6. Change the settings for ‘Display sleep’ and ‘Computer sleep’ to Never.
7. Click the Lock icon at the bottom of the window to save your changes and prevent further adjustments without authorization from an admin user account on the Mac.

Effects of Closing a Mac on an External Monitor

When you close your Mac, it enters a power-saving mode called Clamshell Mode. In this mode, your Mac will turn off its internal display and shut down power to the external monitor. This helps reduce the amount of power being used, extending the battery life of your Mac. If you want to keep your external monitor active when you close the lid on your Mac, you can go into System Preferences > Energy Saver and set the Computer Sleep and Display Sleep sliders to Never.

Keeping the Mac Screen On When Closing the Lid

To keep your Mac screen on when you close the lid, you’ll need to adjust the System Preferences. First, click the Apple icon on the top left of the screen and select System Preferences. Then, click on the Energy Saver icon and select “Prevent computer from sleeping automatically when the display is off” from the drop-down menu. Finally, hit Apply and then close out of System Preferences. This will keep your Mac screen on when you close the lid.

Closing MacBook Pro While Using External Monitor

Yes, you can close your MacBook Pro and still use an external monitor. Once you’ve connected the external monitor to your Mac notebook using an appropriate cable, the built-in display will turn off automatically. To wake the external monitor, you may need to press a key or click your mouse. Depending on which model of MacBook Pro you have, this may vary slightly.

Preventing Monitor from Going to Sleep When Closing

To stop your monitor from going to sleep when you close it, you will need to change the power settings on your computer. First, go to the Control Panel and select Power Options. Then click on Choose when to turn off the display in the left pane. After that, click on Change advanced power settings and go to Power buttons and lid. Expand Lid close action and change Plugged in from Sleep or Hibernate to Do Nothing. Once you have done that, your monitor will no longer go into sleep mode when you close it.

mac sleeps when lid closed external monitor
Source: eshop.macsales.com

The Effects of Closing a Laptop on an External Monitor

It sounds like your laptop is configured to turn off the external monitor when you close the lid. To change this, you can go to Power & Sleep in the options on the right side, then select Additional power settings. From there, choose Choose what closing the lid does and in the drop-down list under Plugged in and When I close the lid, select Do Nothing. This should prevent your external monitor from turning off when you close your laptop’s lid.

Troubleshooting Blackouts on Mac External Monitors

It’s possible that your external monitor keeps going black on Mac due to a loose cable or a power issue. To troubleshoot this issue, first, check the power cable of your external monitor and ensure that it is plugged in fully. Additionally, make sure the cable connecting your Mac to the monitor is also plugged in securely. If either of these cables is loose, it could lead to a loss of power or display.

Monitor Going Black When Closing MacBook Air

When you close your MacBook Air, the display may go black due to a power-saving feature. This is because your Mac and display automatically go to sleep when they’re not in use in order to conserve energy. To prevent this from happening, you can adjust the settings in the Energy Saver pane of System Preferences so that your display does not turn off when the lid is closed.

Closing a Laptop While Using an External Monitor

Yes, you can close your laptop and still use an external monitor. To do this, you’ll need to connect the laptop to an external monitor with an HDMI or DisplayPort cable. Once the laptop is connected, go to your computer’s display settings and adjust the settings so that the external monitor is set as your primary display. When you close the lid of your laptop, it will enter Sleep mode but will still be able to use the external monitor. Make sure to turn off your laptop or put it in Sleep mode when traveling with it to avoid overheating issues.

Keeping Laptop Closed While Monitor Is On

To keep your laptop closed but your monitor on, you will need to adjust the power settings in the Control Panel. Open the Start menu and search for ‘Control Panel’ or type ‘Lid’ into the Start menu to immediately find the Power Options menu. Navigate to Hardware and Sound > Power Options > Choose what closing the lid does. Here, you can select an option from a dropdown menu to determine what happens when you close your laptop lid. Select ‘Do Nothing’ from this list, then click Save changes and you’re all set! Your laptop will remain closed while your monitor stays on.

Closing the Laptop Lid and Using an External Monitor

To use an external monitor while keeping your laptop lid closed, you’ll need to adjust your power settings on Windows 10. Right-click the Battery icon, then select Power Options. In the left panel, select Choose what closing the lid does. Then, select Do Nothing from the dropdown menu under Plugged In. This will allow you to close your laptop lid and still be able to use an external monitor for your display. If you want to use an external monitor while running off battery power as well, make sure to choose to Do Nothing for On battery as well. Once this is done, you can close your laptop lid and continue using the external monitor without any interruption.

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James Walker

James Walker has a deep passion for technology and is our in-house enthusiastic editor. He graduated from the School of Journalism and Mass Communication, and loves to test the latest gadgets and play with older software (something we’re still trying to figure out about himself). Hailing from Iowa, United States, James loves cats and is an avid hiker in his free time.