Save energy on your Mac
Your Mac is designed to be energy efficient right out of the box, using features like Compressed Memory and App Nap to stay fast and save power. However, there are several ways you can further optimise energy usage.
Note: Some of the options may not be available, depending on your Mac.
Put your Mac to sleep
When in sleep, your Mac is still turned on, but it consumes much less energy. And waking your Mac from sleep takes less time than starting it up.
On your Mac, choose Apple menu
Get the most from your battery
If you have a Mac laptop, you can change the options below to reduce energy use and optimise the lifespan of your battery.
On your Mac, choose Apple menu
in the sidebar. (You may need to scroll down.)
Do any of the following:
Click the pop-up menu next to Low Power Mode, then choose Always, Only on Battery or Only on Power Adapter.
Click
next to Battery Health, then turn on Optimised Battery Charging and “Manage battery longevity”.
Click Options, then turn on “Put hard disks to sleep when possible” and “Automatic graphics switching”.
Turn your display off after inactivity
Choose Apple menu
in the sidebar. (You may need to scroll down).
Do any of the following:
Click the pop-up menu next to “Turn display off on battery when inactive”, then choose an option.
Click the pop-up menu next to “Turn display off on power adapter when inactive”, then choose an option.
Dim the display
Dim the display to the lowest comfortable level. For example, the display can be more dim when you’re in a dark room than when you’re in bright sunlight.
To dim the display, press your keyboard’s brightness keys or use Displays settings. See Change your Mac display’s brightness.
If you’re using a Mac laptop, you can also set your display to dim automatically when you’re using battery power. See Change Battery settings on a Mac laptop.
Turn off Wi-Fi and Bluetooth
Turn off Bluetooth® and Wi-Fi if you don’t need them. They consume energy even when they aren’t used.
Turn off Bluetooth: On your Mac, choose Apple menu
in the sidebar. (You may need to scroll down.) Turn Bluetooth off.
Turn off Wi-Fi: On your Mac, choose Apple menu
in the sidebar. (You may need to scroll down.) Select Wi-Fi in the list, then turn Wi-Fi off.
Disconnect devices and close apps
Accessories: Disconnect any accessories that you aren’t using, such as external hard drives.
Connected external drives: If you use an external drive, such as an Apple USB SuperDrive, disconnect it from your Mac.
Apps: Quit apps that you aren’t using. Even an app you aren’t using may be working in the background and consuming energy.
Select other energy-saving options
In Battery or Energy Saver settings, choose options that make it easier to save energy. For example, if you allow other computers to access the shared resources on your Mac — such as shared printers or Music playlists — while it’s in sleep you may be able to put your Mac to sleep more often.
On your Mac, choose Apple menu
If you’re using a Mac laptop: Click Battery
If you’re using a Mac desktop computer: Click Energy Saver
in the sidebar. (You may need to scroll down.)
For more information, see Set sleep and wake settings.