Read Your Mac's Sleep Settings with pmset -g custom
pmset -g custom prints the live sleep configuration separately for battery and charger.
Run `pmset -g custom` and read the `Battery Power:` and `AC Power:` blocks — sleep, displaysleep, disksleep and more.
01Command
Command
$ pmset -g custom02What it does
System Settings exposes only a few of these values; pmset shows the full picture, including hibernatemode, standbydelay, powernap and wake-on-network. timers are in minutes, so displaysleep 10 means ten minutes of inactivity. Comparing the Battery Power and AC Power blocks explains behaviors like 'it sleeps quickly on battery but stays awake plugged in'. The same settings can be tuned later with pmset -a/-b/-u writes, but read them first so you know the current baseline.
03Risk
04Undo
✓No undo needed — this command does not change persistent state.
05Sources
- pmset — power management settings (macOS man page)Evidence: Documents -g custom, which prints the active power management profile for battery and AC separately.
Last verified: 2026-09-18 · Category: System & Settings