What is caffeinate on Mac?
By Junaid, maker of Taskglass · Last reviewed
A built-in tool that keeps your Mac awake while something is running.
caffeinate is a command-line tool included with macOS that stops the Mac from going to sleep, either for a set time or while another program runs. Apps, scripts and developer tools use it to keep the Mac awake during long tasks. It uses almost no CPU; its only effect is preventing sleep.
- Category
- macOS system
- Made by
- Apple
- Safe to quit:
- Yes
Shown in Activity Monitor as caffeinate
Why is caffeinate using so much CPU or memory?
- It almost never uses CPU; its effect is on sleep, not performance
- A script or app started it and forgot to stop it, keeping the Mac awake
What to do
- 1Check which app or Terminal window started it
- 2Run 'pmset -g assertions' in Terminal to see what's keeping the Mac awake
- 3Quit it if you want the Mac to be able to sleep again
Safe to quit? Yes.
Safe to quit; your Mac will simply be allowed to sleep normally again.
Related processes
Part of the Taskglass Process Library