3 Ways to Set up Auto Shutdown on a Windows 10/11 Computer

Occasionally, you may hope your computer can automatically shut down in a scheduled time, for example, when some downloading processes haven't been completed yet, but you have to leave the computer screen right. This post introduces three ways to set up auto shutdown on Windows 10/11 computer, which also apply to Windows 8. Here author take Windows 10 as an example, let's check it out.

Way 1: Set Up Auto Shutdown on Windows by the Run Dialog Box

Step 1: Press Win + R keys to open the Run dialog box.

Step 2: Type shutdown –s –t number, for example, shutdown –s –t 1800 and then click OK.

Tips: The number in the entered command is the time in seconds; 1800 just means 1800 seconds (i.e. 30 minutes). You can set the number depending on your own needs.

Way 2: Set Up Auto Shutdown in Windows by Command Prompt

Step 1: Press Win + X keys and then select Command Prompt to open Command Prompt.

Step 2: Type shutdown –s –t number and press Enter key.

After using either way above to set up auto shutdown in Windows 10, immediately you can notice one notification popping up from the lower right corner of the desktop to inform you that you're about to be signed out of Windows 10 and computer will shut down at your scheduled time. The pop-up message will disappear soon.

Way 3: Set Up Auto Shutdown in Windows by Task Scheduler

Compared to the above two ways, this way will be a bit more complicated.

Step 1: Open the Run dialog. Then type taskschd.msc and click OK.

Step 2: After Task Scheduler opens, click Create Basic Task... in the right-side pane.

Step 3: Type Shutdown in the Name field and click Next.

Step 4: Choose when you want the auto shutdown task to start and click Next.

Step 5: Set the specific time when you want your Windows 10 to automatically shut down and click Next.

Step 6: Select Start a program and click Next.

Step 7: Click the Browse button. Navigate to C:\Windows\System32. Drop down to find the shutdown application file, select it and click Open.

Step 8: Type –s in the box behind Add arguments (Optional) and then click Next.

Step 9: Click Finish. Then the setup will take effect and your Windows 10 computer will automatically shut down at your specified time.

Timed shutdown brings much convenience for us. Hope the above ways will be helpful to you. In addition, if you want to cancel auto shutdown in Windows 10, just need to open a Run dialog box (or Command Prompt window) and then type shutdown –a followed by clicking OK to cancel the setup.