
Clamshell
Action when clamshell closes
Only for Mac
Free
Mac
Initiate actions when clamshell state changes
Clamshell is a tiny app that can run following actions when the clamshell (laptop lid) is closed:
‣ Sleep
‣ Shut Down
‣ Turn Off Displays & Prevent Idle Sleep
‣ Keep External Displays On & Prevent Idle Sleep
Sleep causes an immediate system sleep when your MacBook closes. It is very useful for users who use MacBook with external displays connected. When your MacBook connected to the power, Sleep will turn off a built-in display and all external displays, and the system will enter an idle sleep mode. If there are processes that hold assertions to prevent idle sleep, the system will wait before sleep with turned off displays while these processes are running. When your MacBook runs on battery, Sleep mimics the system default behavior.
Shut Down initiates swift and unavoidable system shutdown when the lid of your MacBook closes. No questions asked. This mode is useful, if you work on MacBook in the unsafe public places, such as parks, cafes, bus stations, etc. Mac will shut down automatically when lid closes, preventing anyone to bypass password protection with Touch ID/ Face ID, and preventing some advanced hacking techniques, such as cold boot attack, dumping RAM and circumventing FileVault. This mode also helpful, if your MacBook awakes often in your backpack.
Turn Off Displays & Prevent Idle Sleep puts all displays in the sleep mode and creates a power assertion preventing the rest of the system entering an idle sleep. This mode is useful for users who use MacBook with external displays connected. When you close the lid of your Mac connected to the power, a built-in display and all external displays go black but running applications remain working in the background, such as Music keeps playing, Safari keeps downloading big file, etc. When your MacBook runs on battery, Turn Off Displays & Prevent Idle Sleep works the same, i.e. mandatory sleep on lid close prevented.
Keep External Displays On & Prevent Idle Sleep creates two power assertions preventing external displays and the rest of the system entering an idle sleep. If some display is off, this action turns it on.
Note for users of iMac, Mac mini, Mac Studio and Mac Pro: Clamshell is useless if there is no clamshell ;)
Please stay tuned for updates. More actions to come.
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Turn Off Displays & Prevent Idle Sleep and Keep External Displays On & Prevent Idle Sleep actions work as expected even when your MacBook runs on battery, i.e. mandatory sleep on lid close prevented. Yay! Keep External Displays On & Prevent Idle Sleep action will keep the built-in display powered on and unlocked until the lid is opened.
The developer, Alexander Kovrazhkin, indicated that the app’s privacy practices may include handling of data as described below. For more information, see the developer’s privacy policy .
Data Not Collected
The developer does not collect any data from this app.
Accessibility
The developer has not yet indicated which accessibility features this app supports. Learn More
Information
- Seller
- Alexander Kovrazhkin
- Size
- 3.8 MB
- Category
- Utilities
- Compatibility
Requires macOS 13.0 or later.
- Mac
Requires macOS 13.0 or later.
- Languages
- English
- Age Rating
4+
- 4+
- Copyright
- © 2025 Alexander Kovrazhkin. All rights reserved.