How to set the sleep timer on Mac?

Putting your Mac in sleep mode can help you save your battery life and get back to work quickly when you’re ready.

It’s possible to set your Mac to automatically start sleep mode after being inactive for a certain amount of time. You can also set a recurring schedule for your Mac to enter sleep mode.

Set your Mac’s sleep timer

1. Click the Apple menu on the top left of your toolbar.
2. Go to System Settings > Lock Screen. 
3. Choose the option that work for you next to "Turn display off" for both battery and power adapter. 
4. Now, go to System Settings > Battery and click Options. 
5. Enable "Put hard disks to sleep when possible" and disable "Wake for network access."

Schedule your Mac’s sleep timer

You can also schedule your sleep timer so your Mac automatically goes to sleep and wakes up at specific times.

For macOS versions older than macOS Ventura: 

1. From System Preferences > Energy Saver, click the Schedule button on the bottom right of the window.

2. Check the box marked Sleep to set a time at which your Mac will automatically go to sleep or shut down. You can choose whether your computer will Shut Down or Restart. (You can also set an automatic wake timer by checking the box marked Start up or wake.)

3. Use the drop-down menu that’s preset to Every Day to choose the specific days for which you want to set your sleep (or wake) timer. The next menu lets you set the time at which your Mac will go to sleep and wake up on the specified days.

For macOS Ventura or later, you will have to use Terminal: 

1. Open Terminal from Applications > Utilities. 
2. Run this command: sudo pmset repeat sleep MTWRFSU HH:MM:SS
   You will need to enter admin password to run it.

Days code: MTWRFSU stands for Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday. Use only the letters for the days you want.

Time: Use 24-hour format (e.g., 23:00:00 for 11:00 PM)

Now, run pmset -g sched to verify the created schedule.

To reset the schedule, run sudo pmset repeat cancel

Enable Power Nap on your Mac [Intel-based Macs only]

You can also enable the Power Nap function. This allows your Mac to check for things like emails, calendar events, and iCloud updates while it’s asleep. This can be enabled separately for when your Mac is using its battery and when it’s connected to a power adapter.

1. Go to System Settings > Battery and click Options.
2. Choose the option in the pop-up next to Power Nap.

That's it!

How to optimize your Mac 

Why does your Mac need additional optimization? Regular optimization increases the overall performance of your device. It allows you to control what is running on your Mac, including login items, launch agents, hung applications, and heavy consumers—all those unneeded things that slow down your system. 

And what is the most effortless way to optimize Mac than Apple notarized utility tool CleanMyMac. It has a widely popular Performance feature designed to help you manage login items or launch agents. It also comes with the Menu App that allows you to monitor Memory and CPU usage and quit heavy consumers. 

Here's how it works: 

1. Open CleanMyMac — get your free trial here.

2. Click Performance > Scan.

3. Review Login Items and Background Items tiles and remove what is no longer needed. 

Now, click a little iMac icon in the menu bar and review Memory and CPU tabs to quit heavy comsumers. 

Enjoy a faster and healthier Mac!