How to Disable Auto Boot

Written By: Jeff Suovanen (and one other contributor)

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Difficulty

Easy

Steps

Time Required

5 minutes

Introduction

The Auto Boot feature powers on your laptop as soon as you open the lid, so it should be disabled before undertaking certain repairs. Auto Boot can be found on 2016 (and newer) MacBook Pros and 2017 (and newer) 12" Retina MacBooks.

This guide will walk you through the process of disabling Auto Boot, and then re-enabling it when your repair is complete.

Note: Disabling Auto Boot may not work on Apple’s newer ARM-based M1 MacBook Pro or MacBook Air, released in late 2020. At this time, we don’t know any procedure for disabling Auto Boot on devices equipped with Big Sur v11.1 or later.

Step 1 How to Disable Auto Boot

To launch Terminal, you can either use Spotlight Search or navigate to Applications / Utilities in Finder and double click the Terminal icon.

Power on your Mac and launch Terminal.
To launch Terminal, you can either use Spotlight Search or navigate to Applications / Utilities in Finder and double click the Terminal icon.

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Step 2

Copy and paste the following command (or type it exactly) into Terminal:

Copy and paste the following command (or type it exactly) into Terminal:
sudo nvram AutoBoot=%00
Press [return].
Your [return] key may also be labeled ⏎ or [enter].
If you are prompted for an administrative password, type the password and press [return].
Your password will not be displayed in Terminal.

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Step 3

You can now safely power down your Mac and remove the bottom case, without it accidentally powering on.

You can now safely power down your Mac and remove the bottom case, without it accidentally powering on.
Remember, you must still disconnect the battery before servicing internal components.

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Step 4

When your repair is complete and your Mac is successfully reassembled, you can re-enable the Auto Boot feature.

When your repair is complete and your Mac is successfully reassembled, you can re-enable the Auto Boot feature.
Power on your Mac and launch Terminal.
Copy and paste the following command (or type it exactly) into Terminal:
sudo nvram AutoBoot=%03
Press [return].
If you are prompted for an administrative password, type the password and press [return].
Your password will not be displayed in Terminal.
Alternatively, you may reset your Mac's NVRAM to re-enable Auto Boot.