Windows 10 may not yet give you a native one-click solution for scheduling automatic shutdown, but you can still enable this option without much technical knowledge. We have already covered how you can schedule automatic shutdown in Windows 10 using Task Scheduler. And today we will show you how to automatically shut down your Windows 10 PC with a timer.
Shut Down Your Windows 10 Computer With A Timer
In this article, we explain how you can use third-party apps besides Command Prompt to shut down your Windows 10 computer. This feature will come in handy if you want to control your child’s gaming or if you want to automatically turn off your computer when you fall asleep while watching a Netflix movie. Both methods have their advantages, so you should check both out yourself to see which one fits your needs better. So, without further discussion, let’s get started.
1. Schedule Shutdown Using Command Prompt
The easiest way to schedule a shutdown in Windows 10 is to use the Command Prompt. The process works like this:
- First, open command prompt On your Windows 10 computer in Administrator mode. To do this, search for ‘cmd’ in the Windows Search Bar and click on ‘Run as administrator’.
- Type now
shutdown -s -t [seconds]in terminal and press Enter. make sure you change [seconds] With the actual number of seconds you want your PC to stay ‘On’ before shutting down.
note: For my demo, I chose 300 seconds, which will shut my computer down in 5 minutes. 600 if you want a 10 minute timer, 1800 if you want a half hour timer etc. You can enter..
- You can use the following command to cancel the shutdown timer:
shutdown -a, where ‘a’ stands for ‘cancel’. You will receive a notification that the shutdown has been cancelled.
note: You can restart your computer instead of shutting down by using “r” instead of “s” in the first command. The command will look like this:shutdown -r -t [seconds]
2. Schedule Shutdown Using Desktop Shortcut
You can also use a desktop shortcut to automatically shut down your Windows 10 computer using a timer. For this, you can use the same command as before, but complete with a shortcut. will let you Activate the shutdown timer at any time with a simple double click and instead of fiddling with the Command Prompt every time. Follow the steps below:
- To create a shortcut, right click in an empty space on your desktop. Using the contextual menu that appears, navigate to: New -> Shortcut.
- ‘create shortcut‘ the wizard will now open. Type or copy and paste the previous command:
shutdown -s -t [seconds]and click on Next. Make sure you choose the time period that best suits your needs. I’m using 300 seconds (5 minutes) for demo purposes. You can create multiple shortcuts with different timers for later use.
- Keep the default name of the shortcut (shortcut.exe) or enter a name such as shutdown-5min.exe to make it easier for you to identify the timer. Finally, click on ‘Finish‘ to create a shutdown timer shortcut on your Windows 10 desktop. You can double-click it at any time to start the countdown timer.
note: You can cancel the programmed shutdown using the “ option.shutdown -a” command in Command Prompt. It might also be handy to create a shortcut to cancel the timer.
3. Third Party App: Classic Shutdown Timer
You can also use a third-party utility to schedule shutdowns using a timer in Windows 10. Best practice for business is free and open source (FOSS)’Off Timer Classic‘ is present in both GitHub and Windows Store. You can even download a portable version, which means you don’t have to install it on your system. The app has an intuitive GUI that ensures you don’t need to do any math (converting minutes or hours into seconds) to set the shutdown timer every time.
Off Timer Classic allows you to: choose from all standard Windows shutdown optionsIncluding Restart, Hibernate, Sleep, Logout and Lock. You can also specify to force close apps.
When the countdown begins, you will see a prominent timer on the desktop. It lets you know how much time you have before your system shuts down, giving you ample time to save your work. You can cancel the shutdown at any time by closing the timer window.
Use a Timer to Automatically Shut Down Your Windows 10 PC
You won’t need a timer every day to shut down your Windows 10 PC, but as you can see, you have this option if needed. If you like this little trick, check out other Windows 10 tips and tricks to learn more about such features. Also, check out how you can improve your multitasking abilities by splitting the screen between different apps in Windows 10. Finally, learn how to password protect files and folders in Windows 10, find saved Wi-Fi passwords, and disable the lock screen in Windows 10.
