What are the pros and cons of Sleep mode with windows open vs Powering Off with windows closed?

For laptops, the battery will drain much slower when powered off than when the laptop is sleeping. How much the battery drains while in sleep mode depends on system configuration & setup.

In my experience - 40 years with Macs - there is little if anything to be gained by shutting down the computer aside from allowing the OS to do certain housekeeping tasks at startup.

As I see things:

• There's no additional wear and tear on the CPU.

• Program functionality by be improved from time to time as certain data caches and memory are cleared.

• Data management may get an assist with the occasional reboot.

•Virus and malware protection gets little benefit either way. Don't install junk is the #1 way to protect your Mac.

Many veteran users rarely shut down their Macs. Many shut down at the end of each day. What you choose to do is up to you. Either way you won't go wrong.

+1 on D.I Johnson's excellent advice.

"Sleep mode with windows open vs. Powering Off with windows closed?" are two different conditions.

"Sleep/windows open" depends on what is left open. I have found a number of web sites that remain active when left open while the computer is sleeping. That won't wear out the computing hardware but could drain the battery at night. If the computer is on wall power, that is a non-issue.

I've used Macs both at work and home since 1989 and I use "sleep/windows closed" unless I am away from home for more than a day. Then I shut down.

I believe the reason a lot of people still leave their computers running but sleeping is a carry-over from "the old days" when slow mech hard drives were all we had. Cold-booting a computer took minutes and some people wanted to avoid waiting.

That reason is now a moot point. The last Macbook Pro that had mech hard drive was the Mid-2012 non-Retina model. Everything since has fast solid-state drives and are usually fast starters.

FWIW, I shut down my computer if I will be away from it for more than about an hour. I don't leave my TV, oven, lights, radio, or any other electronic device on when not being used. I don't see any advantage to using "sleep" over "shutdown". But as others have said, "sleep" mode works too and is preferred by many. Pick the option you prefer.

I always have my MBP plugged into power.

I only shut down when absolutely necessary... maybe once ever 7-14 days it seems, and that is a simple reboot.

It is a tool, use it how it suits you best...

You do not want third party apps that are Cleaners/Optimizers/VPN/Anti-Virus

all known to cause issues on the macOS

Third party AntiVirus is not recommended— it typically does nothing but add issues to the macOS and competes directly with Apple’s own built in security: