Glossary
Dark wake
A wake where your Mac does background work with the screen off, then goes back to sleep.
What it is
DarkWake is a wake where your Mac does background work with the screen off, then goes back to sleep. macOS records each one in its power log as a “DarkWake” line, with the reason after “due to” and how long it lasted. Short dark wakes are normal; one that lasts hours drains the battery overnight.
Macs wake like this for network upkeep, Power Nap tasks, checking mail, a charger being connected, or a scheduled wake request. The display stays off, so you never see it. Problems start when something turns a dark wake into hours awake with the lid closed, usually an app holding a sleep assertion. To see which reason wakes yours most, find the wake reason.
Why it matters
Frequent or long dark wakes are a common cause of overnight battery drain and of a MacBook that is warm in its bag.
In Activity Monitor
Not shown.
In iKnowMyMac
Sleep & Battery shows last night as a timeline of sleep and dark wake, with each wake's reason (read from the power log through the optional read-only helper).
pmset -g log | grep -i wakeLists wake events, including DarkWake lines and their reasons.
Routine wakes versus a Mac that stays awake
A sleeping Mac waking in the dark many times a night is normal. What drains the battery is the total time spent awake. A dozen wakes of under a minute cost very little; one wake that turns into two hours awake costs a lot.
| What you see | What it usually means | Check next |
|---|---|---|
| Many DarkWake lines, each lasting seconds, each followed by Sleep | Routine maintenance: network upkeep, notifications, scheduled work. | Nothing, unless the awake time adds up. |
| A DarkWake, then a long gap before the next Sleep line | Something kept the Mac awake after it woke. | Which app held a sleep assertion at that time. |
| Wakes every few minutes all night with the same reason | One source keeps waking the Mac: a network service, an accessory, or a scheduled wake request. | The reason after “due to”, and scheduled wakes. |
| No Sleep line after you closed the lid | The Mac never went to sleep. | pmset -g assertions before you close the lid next time. |
| DarkWake to FullWake | The Mac woke fully: the lid opened, a key was pressed, or power was connected. | Nothing, if it matches when you used the Mac. |
Many DarkWake lines, each lasting seconds, each followed by Sleep
- What it usually means
- Routine maintenance: network upkeep, notifications, scheduled work.
- Check next
- Nothing, unless the awake time adds up.
A DarkWake, then a long gap before the next Sleep line
- What it usually means
- Something kept the Mac awake after it woke.
- Check next
- Which app held a sleep assertion at that time.
Wakes every few minutes all night with the same reason
- What it usually means
- One source keeps waking the Mac: a network service, an accessory, or a scheduled wake request.
- Check next
- The reason after “due to”, and scheduled wakes.
No Sleep line after you closed the lid
- What it usually means
- The Mac never went to sleep.
- Check next
pmset -g assertionsbefore you close the lid next time.
DarkWake to FullWake
- What it usually means
- The Mac woke fully: the lid opened, a key was pressed, or power was connected.
- Check next
- Nothing, if it matches when you used the Mac.
How to read the wake log
pmset -g log | grep -E "(Sleep|Wake|DarkWake) " | tail -40pmset -g log | grep "Wake Requests" | tail -2002:10:45 DarkWake DarkWake from Deep Idle [CDNP] : due to ... Using BATT (Charge:91%) 45 secs
02:11:30 Sleep Entering Sleep state due to 'Maintenance Sleep' ... Using BATT (Charge:91%) 1810 secs
02:41:40 DarkWake DarkWake from Deep Idle [CDNP] : due to ... Using BATT (Charge:90%) 7230 secs| Part | What it tells you |
|---|---|
| Time | When the event happened, in the Mac's local time. |
| Sleep, DarkWake, Wake | The event. DarkWake is a wake with the display off; Wake is a full wake you'd notice. |
| “due to …” | The reason macOS recorded: an internal name for what woke it, such as a timer, the network, an accessory or the lid. The names vary by Mac and aren't documented one by one. |
| Using BATT or AC, and Charge | Whether the Mac was on battery or power, and the charge at that moment. Watch the charge fall from line to line. |
| The duration at the end | How long the Mac stayed in that state. On a DarkWake line, a large number is the problem to explain. |
Time
- What it tells you
- When the event happened, in the Mac's local time.
Sleep, DarkWake, Wake
- What it tells you
- The event. DarkWake is a wake with the display off; Wake is a full wake you'd notice.
“due to …”
- What it tells you
- The reason macOS recorded: an internal name for what woke it, such as a timer, the network, an accessory or the lid. The names vary by Mac and aren't documented one by one.
Using BATT or AC, and Charge
- What it tells you
- Whether the Mac was on battery or power, and the charge at that moment. Watch the charge fall from line to line.
The duration at the end
- What it tells you
- How long the Mac stayed in that state. On a DarkWake line, a large number is the problem to explain.
In the illustrative lines above, the first DarkWake lasted 45 seconds, which is routine. The last one lasted 7,230 seconds, about two hours, which is the one to explain.
A diagnostic sequence
- Before you close the lid, run
pmset -g battto note the charge, andpmset -g assertionsto see whether any app is already preventing sleep. - In the morning, note the charge again, then run the log command above and find last night's lines.
- Add up the awake time. Compare the durations on the DarkWake lines. A few minutes in total is routine; an hour or more is your cause.
- Explain the longest wake. Read its reason, and look at the lines around it: the log also records Assertions, with the app that created each one, and Wake Requests, with the process that asked to wake the Mac later.
pmset -g schedlists scheduled wakes. - Change one thing and compare. Quit the app, or turn off one setting such as Wake for network access, then compare the next night's charge and log.
The overnight battery drain guide covers the full workflow: assertions, wake reasons, the settings that allow wakes, and how to measure the next night.
FAQ
Questions
Something else? support@iknowmymac.com
What is DarkWake on a Mac?
A wake with the display off. The Mac does a little background work, such as network upkeep or a Power Nap task, and goes back to sleep. The power log records each one as a DarkWake line, which pmset -g log shows.
What does “DarkWake from Deep Idle” mean?
That the Mac woke with the screen off from its normal sleep. The reason follows “due to”, and the number at the end of the line is how long it stayed awake. The letters in brackets, such as [CDNPB], are internal flags Apple doesn't document.
Is DarkWake bad for my Mac?
No. A dozen short dark wakes a night is routine maintenance. Look into it only when one lasts an hour or more, or when the same reason wakes the Mac every few minutes all night.
What does a dark wake with a thermal reason mean?
A wake or sleep line that mentions thermal is about temperature, not an app, for example a Mac that got hot in a bag. It isn't routine. pmset -g therm shows whether macOS has recorded a thermal warning, and pmset -g thermlog lists thermal notifications.
How do I stop my Mac waking up at night?
Find the reason first: read the DarkWake lines in pmset -g log, and check pmset -g assertions for an app keeping the Mac awake. Then quit that app, or turn off one wake setting at a time. Mac keeps waking up from sleep explains each reason, and the overnight battery drain guide covers assertions.
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