Why Schedule Shutdown, Restart and Startup on Your Windows 11/10 PC?
During a busy working day, it can be a drag to turn the Windows device on/off manually. The drawback is that you have to keep your eyes fixated on the screen, which is just losing productivity to distractions. The good thing is you needn’t bother with these idle activities if you plan the shutdowns and restarts ahead of time. Shutting down the PC and restarting it doesn’t require your active presence. Booting up the PC means pressing the Power button – a chore you can entirely skip through on a prescheduled startup. Most of us have a pretty good idea when to switch the device on/off. Using Windows tools such as Task Scheduler, Command Prompt and Desktop Shortcut, you can easily automate those decisions.
Schedule Windows 11/10 Shutdown with Task Scheduler
Task Scheduler is an excellent tool that lets you schedule tasks, such as shutdown and restart, for the system and various apps on your PC. On both Windows 11 and Windows 10, Task Scheduler can be easily located in the Windows Start menu program entries. Follow the steps below to schedule shutdown on Windows 11/10.
Schedule Windows 11/10 Restart with Task Scheduler
With Task Scheduler’s help, it is again easy to schedule Windows 11/10 to automatically restart. The process is nearly the same as automatic shutdown. Follow the steps below.
Shut Down Windows 11/10 PC Using Command Prompt
With a single command in the command prompt, you can set a timer for your Windows 11/10 PC to automatically shut down. Not many are aware of this method. Here’s how the process works:
Note: replace [seconds] with the actual number of seconds. After doing this, your Windows 11/10 PC will shut down automatically. Instead of /s, you can also use the -s argument.
Note: the -s in the command stands for Shut Down, while -a stands for “Abort.”
Shut Down Windows PC Using a Desktop Shortcut
There is another awesome way to automatically shut down your Windows PC. It can be done simply by creating a desktop shortcut. Follow the instructions below: Note: you have to replace [seconds] in the command with the actual number of seconds.
Start Up Windows 11/10 on a Schedule
Starting up your computer on a schedule is a little different from shutdowns and restarts, and you’ll need to go into your motherboard BIOS or UEFI to set it up. Follow the steps listed below. Note: to arrive at the following BIOS screen, you could have also rebooted your PC normally. As it starts up, repeatedly press Del, F2, F12 or whatever button your specific PC manufacturer advises you to use for BIOS. You can change it to “every day” if you want your PC to power up at a certain time every day. Make sure the PC battery is charged adequately for this automatic startup process to initiate (or keep it powered on). Once done, your PC will cold start on its own even in shutdown mode.
1. How do I force Windows to shut down or restart?
While by default the shutdown command gives you a message or warning (so that you can abort if you want to), it is possible to force a shutdown or restart. Use the following in command prompt admin mode:
2. How do I disable automatic shutdown on my Windows PC?
Automatic shutdowns can be annoying especially if you do not remember setting them up in the first place. You can always undo this setting from Task Scheduler. If you ever want to edit or delete this task, just go to “Task Scheduler -> Task Scheduler Library” identify the automatic shutdown activity and right-click it to delete the automated activity. The same procedure from Task Scheduler has to be followed to remove/disable the automated restart on Windows PC.
Wrapping Up
You should now have a Windows 11/10 setup that starts up and shuts down in accordance with what you set above. There’s much flexibility in Task Scheduler to shut down Windows on a schedule, such as setting different triggers and different rules for the shutdown, so feel free to experiment. If needed, you can also view your PC’s startup and shutdown history at anytime. Read on to learn how to fix the “TaskSchedulerHelper.dll is missing” error.
