Mac won’t sleep or shut down due to persistent PreventUserIdleSystemSleep assertion — can’t find the cause

[garrofederico]

I’m having an issue on macOS where my MacBook Air refuses to sleep or shut down properly. When I run:

pmset -g assertions

I consistently get a system-wide assertion:

PreventUserIdleSystemSleep = 1
pid 119(powerd): "Powerd - Prevent sleep while dis

play is on"

No third-party audio drivers appear to be installed anymore. I already removed BlackHole, killed coreaudiod, and checked:

/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/HAL
~/Library/LaunchAgents
/Library/LaunchAgents
/Library/LaunchDaemons

Only these two HAL drivers remain:

ParrotAudioPlugin.driver
ZoomAudioDevice.driver

But even after restarting coreaudiod and checking for leftover launch agents, the assertion stays active. The system keeps reporting UserIsActive and PreventUserIdleSystemSleep, even when I’m not touching the computer.

Other details:

macOS: 26.1

I removed WhatsApp Desktop and verified there’s no leftover container files.

I am not running any audio routing tools anymore.

Nothing obvious appears in Activity Monitor.


What could still be keeping PreventUserIdleSystemSleep alive?
And how can I trace exactly which process or subsystem is preventing sleep when powerd itself is the owner?

Any help would be appreciated.

 

[BrianBaughn]

Did you try testing a new User Account?

 

[f54da]

It is cursed knowledge but there are actually legacy ways to keep awake without using an IOPMAssertion. UpdateSystemActivity() call for instance, and I think some of the CGEvent/HIDEvent libraries might also work to tickle the system.