How to Completely Disable ‘App Nap’ on a Mac to Prevent Background Processes from Pausing

In an effort to maximize MacBook battery life, Apple introduced an aggressive power management feature into macOS called “App Nap.” When App Nap detects that an application is hidden behind other windows, minimized to the dock, or running on an inactive desktop space, it will forcefully suspend the application. The app essentially goes to sleep, using zero CPU cycles until you bring it back into view.

While fantastic for web browsers and word processors, App Nap is a catastrophic feature for power users. If you are rendering a massive 4K video in Adobe Premiere, compiling a massive codebase, or running a long Python script in the background, minimizing the window will trigger App Nap and completely pause your multi-hour export. You will return hours later to find zero progress has been made.

If you require your background applications to run at maximum speed regardless of visibility, you must manually disable App Nap.

Method 1: Disable App Nap for a Specific Application

If you only want to prevent a specific, heavy-duty application (like Final Cut Pro or Logic Pro) from going to sleep, you can disable App Nap on a per-app basis using the Get Info panel.

1. Ensure the application is completely closed (right-click its icon in the dock and select Quit).
2. Open Finder and navigate to your Applications folder.
3. Locate the specific app you want to modify.
4. Right-click the application icon and select Get Info (or highlight it and press Cmd+I).
5. In the Get Info window, look under the “General” section.
6. Check the box labeled Prevent App Nap.
7. Close the window. The next time you launch the app, it will run continuously in the background at full speed.

Note: If you do not see the “Prevent App Nap” checkbox, it means the developer has explicitly hardcoded the application to ignore the feature, or you are running an Apple Silicon (M1/M2/M3) Mac on a modern OS where Apple has begun removing this specific toggle from the GUI. If the box is missing, you must use Method 2.

Method 2: Globally Disable App Nap via Terminal

If you are on a desktop Mac (like a Mac Studio or Mac mini) where battery life is irrelevant, or if the GUI checkbox is missing, you can use a hidden Terminal command to globally eradicate the App Nap feature across the entire operating system.

1. Open the Terminal application (found in Applications > Utilities).
2. Copy and paste the following command exactly as written:

   defaults write NSGlobalDomain NSAppSleepDisabled -bool YES

3. Press Return.
4. Restart your Mac for the global change to take effect deep within the system architecture.

How to Re-Enable App Nap

If you eventually buy a MacBook and notice your battery draining faster than usual, you might want to turn the power-saving feature back on.

1. Open Terminal.
2. Paste the reversal command:

   defaults delete NSGlobalDomain NSAppSleepDisabled

3. Press Return and reboot your computer. The aggressive power management will be restored.