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I am running a task on an old iMac. MacOS version is 11.2.3 (20D91).

The task is about downloading 8000+ photos from an old iPhone with Image Capture. The task goes on very smoothly if the macOS doesn't go to sleep.

The problem is, my macOS will go to sleep/logging-out. It's not turning off the screen, but playing a screensaver animation like this below:

enter image description here

When I click a mouse button or keyboard key, the computer tells me to enter my password again. And the downloading progress is stuck, taking more than 5 minutes to resume.

I first thought this issue was very easy to solve and I searched for some articles about how to prevent mac from sleeping/logging out.

But I failed after many attempts.

First, I have checked off this:

enter image description here

Second, I have checked these settings:

enter image description here

It's still showing the screensaver after like 20 minutes of inactivity.

What else should I do?

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    Turn off the Screen Saver in System Preferences. Display Sleep and Screen Saver are two different things.
    – benwiggy
    Commented Nov 6, 2022 at 12:37

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
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Your search keyword for this is caffeinate but you can also do this from System Prefs > Desktop & Screen Saver > Screen Saver > Hot Corners. Pick one corner to Disable Screen Saver, which will also prevent sleep when combined with your other settings.

enter image description here

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  • Thanks for the great tip. Just one question, I have set Disable Screen Saver for the top-left corner but when I moved there, nothing happens, is that normal?
    – AGamePlayer
    Commented Nov 6, 2022 at 12:15
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    Nothing visible happens. Test it's working by setting a short screensaver & sleep time, 5 or 10 mins, then push the cursor into the corner & check back in 15 mins.
    – Tetsujin
    Commented Nov 6, 2022 at 12:16
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    Welcome - also make sure the mouse/cursor can't get knocked whilst unattended. The sensitive area is very small, perhaps only two or three pixels tight into the corner, so if it gets knocked it's likely to fail & fall asleep.
    – Tetsujin
    Commented Nov 6, 2022 at 13:03

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