How to set up a computer shutdown timer

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Take care that the device does not work in vain when you fall asleep or leave the house.

How to set the shutdown timer for a Windows computer

1. Using the Run menu

To activate the shutdown timer, you need a single command -

shutdown -s -t xxx

… Instead of three X's, you need to enter the time in seconds after which the shutdown will occur. For example, if you enter

shutdown -s -t 3600

the system turns off after one hour.

Press the Win + R keys (open the Run menu), enter the command in the field and click Enter or OK.

If you want to cancel the shutdown, press Win + R again, enter

shutdown -a

and click OK.

2. Using the "Task Scheduler"

Thus, you will not literally start the timer: the computer will turn off not after a certain period of time, but at exactly the specified time.

First open the Task Scheduler menu. To do this, press Win + R, enter the command in the field

taskschd.msc

and press Enter.

Now schedule a shutdown. Click on the right panel "Create a simple task", and then specify its parameters in the wizard window: any name, recurrence mode, date and time of execution. Select "Run the program" as the task action. In the Program or Script box, enter

shutdown

and on the adjacent line specify the argument

-s

… After that click "Finish".

If you want to cancel the shutdown, open Task Scheduler again. Then click on the "Task Scheduler Library" on the left pane, select the created task in the list that appears and click on "Disable" on the right pane.

3. Using third-party software

If you don't want to memorize commands and dig into Windows settings, use third-party programs. For example, the PC Sleep utility can turn off the computer on a timer or exactly at a specified time. It's free and very simple.

To activate the shutdown timer in PC Sleep, start the program and select Shutdown from the Function Select menu. Then check the Shutdown in box and specify the time after which the system should shutdown. Then click Start to start the countdown.

To cancel the shutdown, just expand the program window and click on the Stop button.

PC Sleep can also be configured to shutdown the computer at a specified time. To do this, choose Shutdown at instead of Shutdown in. In addition, you can schedule not only shutdown, but also other actions: reboot, hibernation, hibernation, and logout. These options are also available in the Function Select list.

PC Sleep →

If you want your computer to fall asleep after the end of the movies, you can also read about the Sleep # program.

How to set the shutdown timer for macOS computers

1. Using the "Terminal"

Command

sudo shutdown -h + xx

shuts down the Mac after the specified time. Instead of x, enter the number of minutes. For example, if you type

sudo shutdown -h +60

the off timer will go off after one hour.

To enter a command, open the Terminal application, manually type or copy the above characters and press Enter. If prompted, enter the administrator password. After that, the countdown to shutdown starts. To cancel it, open Terminal again, type

sudo killall shutdown

and press Enter.

2. Using the Energy Saver menu

In this section, you can schedule a shutdown of your computer at a specified time. Pull down the Apple menu and click System Preferences → Energy Saver → Schedule. In the window that opens, check the "Switch off" item, specify the day of the week and time.

When the time comes, a shutdown warning will appear on the screen. If you do not use the cancel button, the system will shut down after 10 minutes.