Understand Hibernate Mode and how to use it.

What is Hibernate Mode on macOS?

Hibernate mode on macOS is like “deep sleep” for your Mac. When you put your Mac to sleep normally, it keeps everything in memory (RAM) so it can wake up quickly. But in hibernate mode, macOS saves everything to the storage (SSD or HDD) and completely turns off the RAM to save power. When you turn your Mac back on, it reloads everything from storage, just like resuming from where you left off.

When Should You Use Hibernate Mode?

Hibernate mode is useful when:

✅ You want to save battery power for a long time (e.g., overnight or while traveling).
✅ You don’t want to lose your work if the battery runs out.
✅ You don’t mind a slightly longer wake-up time compared to normal sleep.

Understanding Hibernate Modes on macOS

macOS has three primary sleep modes:

  1. Sleep (pmset mode 0) – The default for most Macs. The system stays in low power mode, with RAM powered on for quick wake-up.
  2. Safe Sleep (pmset mode 3) – The default for MacBooks. Contents of RAM are saved to disk, but RAM remains powered. If the battery drains completely, the Mac can restore the session from the disk.
  3. Hibernate (pmset mode 25) – RAM contents are written to disk, and the RAM is completely powered off. This saves more power but takes longer to wake up. How to enable Hibernate ? We could do it via macOS’s Terminal.
sudo pmset -a hibernatemode your_preferred_mode

Example

sudo pmset -a hibernatemode 3

Checking Hibernate Status

pmset -g | grep hibernatemode