Keep Your Mac Powered On
Ensure that your Mac or MacBook is connected to a power source and powered on, as it won't be able to wake up for incoming connections if it's turned off. Screens cannot power up your Mac if it’s shut down.
When connected to a power source, your MacBook can be in clamshell mode and will still respond to connection requests.
Enable Wake for Network Access
On the Mac you want to connect to:
macOS 13 Ventura or later
- Click this link to open System Settings.
- Select Battery or Power Adapter, depending on whether your Mac is a laptop or a desktop.
- Select Options…
- Under Wake for network access, choose Always.
macOS 12 Monterey or earlier
- Click this link to open System Preferences.
- Select Energy Saver or Battery.
- Select Power Adapter if available.
- Enable Wake for network access.
Prevent Your Mac from Sleeping
Optionally, you can also prevent your Mac from sleeping:
macOS 13 Ventura or later
- Click this link to open System Settings.
- Select Battery or Power Adapter, depending on whether your Mac is a laptop or a desktop.
- Select Options…
- Enable Prevent automatic sleeping when the display is off.
macOS 12 Monterey or earlier
- Click this link to open System Preferences.
- Select Energy Saver or Battery.
- Select Power Adapter if available.
- Enable Prevent computer from sleeping when the display is off.
Possible Issues and Workarounds
Some factors can prevent incoming connections:
FileVault
FileVault can prevent remote connections after a Mac has been restarted because the startup disk must be unlocked before macOS can finish starting and services such as Screen Sharing and Remote Management become available.
Unlock FileVault Remotely on Apple Silicon Macs
On Macs with Apple silicon running macOS 26 or later, Apple supports unlocking FileVault remotely using SSH after a restart, provided that Remote Login is enabled and the Mac meets Apple's network requirements.
Once FileVault has been unlocked and macOS has finished starting, you should be able to connect with Screens normally.
For requirements and instructions, refer to Apple's documentation:
Note: Remote FileVault unlocking is a macOS feature provided by Apple and is not part of Screens. Availability and network requirements are determined by macOS.
Other Options
If remote FileVault unlocking isn't available for your Mac or configuration, the following alternatives may help.
Use authrestart Before Restarting
If you have access to the Mac before restarting it, you can authorize the next restart without requiring FileVault authentication at startup.
Run the following command in Terminal:
sudo fdesetup authrestartThis temporarily allows the Mac to restart and unlock FileVault without requiring someone to enter the password locally. This can be particularly useful when applying macOS updates remotely.
Make sure you use an account authorized to unlock FileVault. You can view the list of authorized users with:
sudo fdesetup listDisable FileVault (Not Recommended)
If FileVault significantly disrupts your remote-access workflow and you understand the security implications, you can disable it in System Settings > Privacy & Security > FileVault.
Screen Savers
Disable the screen saver or the password requirement to disable the screen saver.
Resetting Remote Management/Screen Sharing
Sometimes, resetting the built-in service can resolve connectivity issues. For detailed instructions, refer to this article.
Reinstall ARD
Reinstalling Apple Remote Desktop (ARD) may resolve connection issues in some cases. The latest version of Remote Desktop is available here.
Get Help from Apple
For further assistance with wake issues, you can consult these Apple support articles: