How to Schedule Windows 10 Automatic Shutdown

If you’re downloading a large file from the Internet or installing a program that’s going to take hours, then you probably want to schedule automatic shutdown because you probably won’t sit that long just to shut down your PC manually. Well, you can schedule Windows 10 to shut down automatically at the time which you specified earlier. Most people aren’t aware of this feature of Windows, and they probably waste their time sitting at their computer to perform shutdown manually.

How to Schedule Windows 10 Automatic Shutdown

There are few ways by which you can perform the auto-shutdown of Windows, and we are going to discuss all of them today. Just use the solution which best suits your need, so without wasting any time let’s see How to Schedule Windows 10 Automatic Shutdown with the help of below-listed troubleshooting guide.

How to Schedule Windows 10 Automatic Shutdown

Make sure to create a restore point just in case something goes wrong.

Method 1: Schedule a shutdown using Task Scheduler

1. Press Windows Key + R then type taskschd.msc and hit Enter to open Task Scheduler.

press Windows Key + R then type Taskschd.msc and hit Enter to open Task Scheduler

2. Now, from the right-hand window under Actions, click on Create Basic Task.

Now from the right-hand window under Actions click on Create Basic Task

3. Type any name and description you want in the field and click Next.

Type any name and description you want in the field and click Next | How to Schedule Windows 10 Automatic Shutdown

4. On the next screen, set when you want the task to start, i.e. daily, weekly, monthly, one time etc. and click Next.

Set when do you want the task to start i.e. daily, weekly, monthly, one time etc and click Next

5. Next set the Start date and time.

Set the Start date and time

6. Select “Start a program” on the Action screen and click Next.

Select Start a program on the Action screen and click Next

7. Under Program/Script either type “C:\Windows\System32\shutdown.exe” (without quotes) or browse to the shutdown.exe under the above directory.

Browse to shutdown.exe under System32 | How to Schedule Windows 10 Automatic Shutdown

8. On the same window, under “Add arguments (optional)” type the following and then click Next:

/s /f /t 0

Under Program or Script browse to shutdown.exe under System32

Note: If you want to shut down the computer say after 1 minute then type 60 in place of 0, similarly if you want to shut down after 1 hour then type 3600. This is also an optional step as you have already selected the date & time to start the program so you could leave it at 0 itself.

9. Review all the changes you did until now, then checkmark “Open the Properties dialog for this task when I click Finish” and then click Finish.

Checkmark Open the Properties dialog for this task when I click Finish

10. Under General tab, tick the box which says “Run with highest privileges“.

Under the General tab, tick the box which says Run with highest privileges

11. Switch to the Conditions tab and then uncheckStart the task only if the computer is on AC power”.

Switch to the Conditions tab and then uncheck Start the task only if the computer is on AC power

12. Similarly, switch to the Settings tab and then checkmarkRun task as soon as possible after a scheduled start is missed“.

Checkmark Run task as soon as possible after a scheduled start is missed

13. Now your computer will shut down at the date & time you selected.

Method 2: Schedule Windows 10 Automatic Shutdown using Command Prompt

1. Open Command Prompt. The user can perform this step by searching for ‘cmd’ and then press Enter.

Open Command Prompt. The user can perform this step by searching for ‘cmd’ and then press Enter.

2. Type the following command into cmd and hit Enter:

shutdown –s –t number

Note: Replace number with the seconds after which you want your PC to shut down, for example, shutdown –s –t 3600

Schedule Windows 10 Automatic Shutdown using Command Prompt | How to Schedule Windows 10 Automatic Shutdown

3. After hitting Enter, a new prompt will open informing you about the auto-shutdown timer.

Note: You can perform the same task in PowerShell to shut down your PC after the specified time. Similarly, open Run dialog and type shutdown –s –t number to achieve the same result, make sure to replace the number with the specific amount of time you want to shut down your PC.

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That’s it you have successfully learned How to Schedule Windows 10 Automatic Shutdown but if you still have any questions regarding this post then feel free to ask them in the comment’s section.

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