By default, MacBooks turn on automatically when you open the lid or connect a charger. While this feature is useful, it’s not always ideal. It can become a headache when you want your Mac to remain off during repairs or when you’re cleaning it. Luckily, Apple has now introduced a method to prevent Apple Silicon MacBooks from turning on when the lid is opened. This guide will walk you through that process.
How to Prevent MacBooks from Turning On When the Lid is Opened
The steps mentioned below are only applicable to newer MacBooks with Apple Silicon. If you want to do this on Intel-based MacBooks, you must enter
sudo nvram AutoBoot=%00
into the terminal. Time needed: 5 minutes
Apple’s documentation provides separate Terminal commands to prevent an Apple silicon MacBook from turning on when its lid is opened or when it’s connected to power. Here are the steps you need to follow:
- Go to Apple Menu > About This Mac and ensure you’re running macOS Sequoia or later.
- Open the Terminal on your Mac. You will find it under Finder > Applications > Utilities.
- Enter either one of these commands into the terminal, then press Return.
- To prevent startup when opening the lid or connecting to power:
sudo nvram BootPreference=%00
- If you want to prevent startup only when opening the lid:
sudo nvram BootPreference=%01
- To prevent startup only when connecting to power:
sudo nvram BootPreference=%02
- Type your Administrator password and hit Return.
(Terminal won’t show the password as it’s typed)
If you ever want to revert these changes and re-enable automatic startup when opening the lid or connecting to power, enter
sudo nvram -d BootPreference
into the Terminal and press Return.