Display keeps turning off after 30 seconds no matter what the settings say.

I have my Mac mini connected to two monitors via USB-C cables. Regardless of the settings under Lock Screen, after I lock the computer, 30 seconds later the displays turn off and (I guess) the Mac goes to sleep. Is this a bug or am I missing something?


Mac mini, macOS 14.0

Posted on Oct 5, 2023 3:06 PM

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Question marked as Apple recommended

Sounds like you have missed something in Lock Screen and/or Displays.

see > Set sleep and wake settings for your Mac - Apple Support




Posted on Oct 6, 2023 7:41 AM

1 reply
Question marked as Helpful

Oct 6, 2023 8:42 AM in response to Jerry_D

Sorry, the differences is that those screenshots are for a laptop and not a desktop Mac.


Try adjusting your "Turn display off when inactive" setting up to 20 or 30 minutes to see if that helps.



Also do your external displays have a standby sleep timers in their On Screen Menu settings?

If they do, then you may need to adjust those standby or sleep timers to never.

17 replies

Oct 6, 2023 8:14 AM in response to den.thed

Thank you. Seems like that, I agree, but I'm not able to see just what. If you look at my screenshot in the original post, you'll see my settings (this is a Mac mini, so there are no battery or power adapter settings). I did try the Energy Saver settings both ways (see screenshot below), got the same reaction in both cases - displays go off after 30 seconds. I don't know what else to change.


Question marked as Helpful

Oct 6, 2023 8:42 AM in response to Jerry_D

Sorry, the differences is that those screenshots are for a laptop and not a desktop Mac.


Try adjusting your "Turn display off when inactive" setting up to 20 or 30 minutes to see if that helps.



Also do your external displays have a standby sleep timers in their On Screen Menu settings?

If they do, then you may need to adjust those standby or sleep timers to never.

Oct 6, 2023 10:36 AM in response to Jerry_D

Jerry_D wrote:

Thanks again. I've tried many different settings in the Lock Screen menu, but the problem refuses to go away. And no, the external screens have no sleep timers of their own. I can't be 100% sure, but I do not remember this problem before upgrading to Sonoma. Will report it to Apple as a possible bug.


That is a good idea.


You can send Feedback directly to Apple,

by using > Feedback - macOS - Apple

and > Feedback - Mac mini - Apple


Or by contacting Apple Support,

at > Official Apple Support

Oct 6, 2023 12:49 PM in response to Jerry_D

That’s not the setting on the link and your previous snapshot was truncated. Furthermore, the Energy Saver settings haven’t changed and are snapshotted here from Sonoma just to make the point absolutely clear:


Anyway, turn Wake off and freeze these settings permanently, irrespective of whether or not it fixes the problem. But it should. Do update.

Oct 6, 2023 1:16 PM in response to hcsitas

Thanks for your kind input. You are right about the truncating, I intentionally omitted the other two options as irrelevant for this discussion. Other two options and not other four as in your linked screenshot, since I do not have the power nap and hard disk options which are not available/relevant for my machine.


For the sake of good order I did try switching the Wake off and it did not fix the problem.

Oct 6, 2023 1:24 PM in response to Jerry_D

I’m afraid based on how long it took me to get to this point, I can’t take your word on it. SO, please post a snapshot confirming the settings mirror what I’ve posted please and confirm they will stay that way irrespective of whether you think that’s relevant or not.


And then add some detail on the two monitors - make & model would be perfect.

Display keeps turning off after 30 seconds no matter what the settings say.

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