How to Set the PC to Turn On or Off Automatically

Set the PC to Turn On or Off Automatically

Do you turn on your computer at the same time every day? Then you should know that it is possible to make the PC turn on (or turn off) automatically and that when you go to sit down to start the day you already have it turned on and ready to go. In this article we are going to tell you the steps you must follow to configure your PC so that it turns on or off every day at the times you want.

Actually, this may be somewhat unnecessary on a modern PC because generally few are left without an SSD, and that means that the operating system boot is quite fast. However, not all PCs start up so quickly and, in fact, there may be situations in which you want the computer to turn on or off automatically.

Why do you want the PC to turn on or off automatically?

Encender PC

As we have already mentioned, making the PC turn on or off automatically may not be necessary in many PCs because really any computer with an SSD takes a short time to start up; However, there are some situations in which this can be quite useful, such as if you go on vacation and take a low-cost laptop with you to work with the intention of connecting remotely to your home or office PC , much more powerful and where you already have the programs and documents you need.

In this way, you could make the PC to which you are going to connect remotely turn on every day at 9 in the morning so that you can connect comfortably to it, and then turn off itself at the end of the day ( or not, the issue of configuring the shutdown is more delicate because after all, if you are connected to the computer, you can always turn it off manually in an ordinary way when you no longer need it).

In the same way, and more so now that the electricity rates go by schedule, you may be interested in having the PC automatically turn on at the times when the rate is cheapest and that it starts mining cryptocurrencies (by means of a simple task programmed in Windows) automatically, then shutting itself off when the most expensive electricity rate is approaching.

How to make the PC turn on automatically

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First of all you should know that the option that we are going to talk about next is available in most modern PCs, but not in all, since it is an option in the BIOS or UEFI of the motherboard and you need that your power supply is modern and thus compatible with the C States that allow it to never turn off completely.

To find the option, you will therefore need to access the BIOS or UEFI of your system: restart or turn on the PC and press the appropriate key for this, which will depend on the manufacturer of your motherboard but which is generally usually DEL, F11 or F2 (Normally, a “Press Del to enter stup” message appears when the computer starts up, indicating the key to press to enter the BIOS).

The option we are looking for is usually in the Advanced Options (or Advanced) section in the BIOS, and is usually called Power-On Options or BIOS Power-On, but again the name may be different and / or be in a different location depending on the manufacturer and model of motherboard you have (for example, in some motherboards it is not even called that and you can find the option in Advanced Settings -> APM Configuration -> Power on By RTC. What is almost certain is that except If you have a particularly old PC, you should be able to find this option because practically all motherboards have it.

Encender PC

Once you find the option, as a general rule you will see a total of seven options for the seven days of the week. You may have, as in the screenshot above, the option only to enable or disable the automatic start according to the day of the week and at the bottom completely the time, so the time must always be the same, or it may be that the system allows you to select an individual time for each day of the week. What in no case will it allow you to select is several different ignition times on the same day of the week.

Once configured, exit the BIOS saving the changes, and as long as you do not unplug or cut the power to the PC with the power supply button, it will automatically turn on in the days and hours that you have selected.

And to turn it off automatically?

apagar hibernar o suspender pc que es mejor

As we said at the beginning, the normal thing is that when you want your PC to turn off you do it yourself by hand, but if for any reason you want to make it do it automatically without the need for your intervention, then we will tell you what you should make. Bear in mind that with this method the PC will shut down and if you have half-done tasks they will “cut”, because the shutdown command will prevail over everything else.

In this case, the configuration is done from Windows, and for this you must access the Task Scheduler, which you can access by clicking the Start button and typing “Task Scheduler”.

Programador de tareas

Once in the tool, click on the “Create basic task” option in the right area and you will see that a new window opens. Start by giving it a name that you want to help you recognize it easily and be able to deactivate it in the future.

Crear tarea para apagar el PC

Click next, and it will ask you to select when you want the task to run. Mark the option “Once” and click on next; later we will set the schedule.

Programar tarea

In the next window you will be asked for the time of the first execution. If, for example, you want the PC to turn off at 22:00 today for the first time, put that date and time.

Horario

In the next window, after clicking next, you will be asked to indicate what you want to happen on the date and time that we have selected. Leave “Start a program” checked and press next, at which point you will be asked to indicate which program you want to start.

Programa

You must put the following in the first box:

C: WindowsSystem32shutdown.exe

And in the arguments box, put -s as we have shown you in the image. Once you click on next, you will be shown a summary of the task that you have created, but be careful because we have not finished yet.

Resumen tarea apagar pc

Before clicking finish, check the option “Open the Properties dialog for this task when clicking Finish”, click Finish then and you will see that a new window opens. In this, you must go to the “Triggers” tab, select the only one there is and click on Edit.

Editar desencadenadores

Now, click on the “Weekly” option and select the days of the week in which you want to make the PC turn off automatically, such as Monday through Friday.

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Click OK in all the windows and you are done, the PC will automatically turn off on the selected days and hours. The moment you want to disable this automatic shutdown, you must return to the Windows Task Scheduler and, in the central part, you must click the right mouse button on the task and select Disable or Delete.

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