Apple Reveals How to Prevent Your MacBook from Booting Up Automatically When Opened

Have you ever wished that your MacBook didn’t automatically power on when you lift the lid or plug it in? Apple has released an official support guide explaining how to disable this feature.

This method is more suited for advanced users since there’s no direct option in Settings. However, it makes sense since experienced users are typically the ones who wish to disable the automatic startup feature.

According to the support guide, Apple outlines the necessary steps to modify this default behavior.

1. Ensure that your Mac laptop with Apple silicon is running macOS Sequoia or a newer version.
2. Launch the Terminal app, which you can find in the Utilities folder within your Applications folder.
3. Enter one of the following commands in Terminal and hit Return:
   • To stop the startup when opening the lid or connecting power: sudo nvram BootPreference=%00
   • To stop the startup only when opening the lid: sudo nvram BootPreference=%01
   • To stop the startup only when connecting to power: sudo nvram BootPreference=%02
4. Input your administrator password when prompted (your password won’t be displayed as you type), then press Return.

You can also re-enable the automatic startup when opening the lid using this command in Terminal:

sudo nvram -d BootPreference

These instructions can be valuable for anyone looking to adjust their MacBook’s startup behavior for different reasons.

Keep in mind that these steps will not stop the MacBook from starting when you press a key or tap the trackpad. For those who want to clean their keyboard without triggering input, consider using CleanupBuddy for Mac.

Additionally, if you’re just looking to silence the startup chime, you can find that option in Settings > Sound next to Play sound on startup.