The Tonight queue

Line up big files for the night. Ladle starts them at 1:00 AM, stops at 7:00 AM and can put your Mac to sleep when they’re done.

3 min read
Updated October 2026

Add a download to Tonight

Press ⌘N to open the Add sheet. Or paste a link into the bar at the top of Ladle’s window and click More options, which opens the Add sheet with the link filled in.
Under Start, choose Tonight, 1:00 AM.
Add the download. It shows a Tonight tag and “Starts at 1:00 AM” in your list.

Click Tonight under Queues in Ladle’s sidebar to see everything that’s waiting. Changed your mind? Select a download and click Start now to start it straight away.

What happens overnight

At 1:00 AM, Ladle starts the queue.
At 7:00 AM, it stops. Anything unfinished keeps its progress and carries on the next night.
When the queue is done, Ladle puts your Mac to sleep, unless you’ve told it not to.

Keep your Mac awake for 1:00 AM

Ladle can’t wake a sleeping Mac. For the queue to start on time, your Mac needs to be awake, with Ladle open, at 1:00 AM:

On a MacBook, leave it plugged in with the lid open. Then open System Settings › Battery, click Options…, and turn on Prevent automatic sleeping on power adapter when the display is off.
On an iMac, Mac mini, Mac Studio or Mac Pro, open System Settings › Energy (called Energy Saver in macOS Sonoma) and turn on Prevent automatic sleeping when the display is off.

The screen can still turn off; only the Mac itself needs to stay awake. Ladle opens at login out of the box, so it’s ready even after a restart. Once the queue starts, Ladle keeps your Mac from dozing off while anything is downloading.

On battery and Low Data networks

Two switches in Ladle › Settings › Schedule hold the Tonight queue, and both are on out of the box:

Pause when running on battery holds the queue while your Mac runs on battery. It carries on by itself once you plug in.
Pause on Low Data networks holds it on networks where macOS Low Data Mode is on, like a phone’s hotspot. It carries on by itself once you’re on a regular network.

They only affect the Tonight queue. Downloads you start yourself always run.

To turn on Low Data Mode for a network, open System Settings › Wi-Fi, click Details… next to the network, and turn on Low Data Mode.

Change the schedule

Open Ladle › Settings › Schedule:

Setting	Default	What it does
Tonight queue	1:00 AM to 7:00 AM	When the queue starts and stops.
Run on	Every day	The nights the queue runs. Click a day to turn it off or on.
When the queue finishes	Put the Mac to sleep	Choose Do nothing to leave your Mac awake.
Pause when running on battery	On	Holds the queue while your Mac runs on battery. It carries on once you plug in.
Pause on Low Data networks	On	Holds the queue on networks with macOS Low Data Mode on. It carries on once you’re on a regular network.