4 Ways to Schedule Shutdown Timer on Mac

Have you ever wanted to schedule your Mac to shut down at a specific time, but didn’t know how? In this post, we’ll explore 4 different ways to set a shutdown timer on your Mac. Whether you’re looking to save energy, increase security, or simply want to automate the shutdown process, this guide has got you covered. Keep reading to learn more!

Method 1: Use Built-in Power Scheduler to Schedule Shutdown on Mac

Scheduling power on and off times is an easy built-in feature on Mac computers. Previously, you could set shutdown timers in the "Energy Saver" settings. However, in the latest macOS Ventura update, Apple removed the "Energy Saver" settings and replaced them with new options for when you want your Mac to wake up, go to sleep, start-up, and shut down.

If you have macOS Ventura, Follow the next set of steps to set power scheduling in macOS Ventura.

If you have an older MacOS version like Monterey or earlier: Follow these steps to set power schedule using the "Energy Saver" settings:

1. Click on the Apple logo on your desktop and select ‘System Preferences’ from the drop-down menu.
2. Go to ‘Energy Saver’.
3. Select the ‘Schedule’ option.
4. Choose the day, time, and action you want to be executed.
5. Click ‘Apply’ to save your changes.

That’s it. You have successfully scheduled your Mac to shut down at a specified time.

Method 2: Schedule Shutdown Timer on Mac Using Terminal

You can set a timer for your Mac to automatically shut down after a certain amount of time using the Terminal application. Type in the Terminal command sudo shutdown -h +30 where:

• The "sudo" part means run this command with administrator privileges
• The "-h" flag sets the shutdown type to a halt (which fully powers down the computer)
• The "+30" part means wait 30 minutes after running this command before shutting down your Mac.

1. Press the ‘Command + Space’ keys on your keyboard, type ‘Terminal’, and press the ‘Return’ key.

2. Type the command ‘sudo shutdown -h +30’ and press ‘Return’. The ‘-h’ option lets you set a timer and ‘+30’ is the number of minutes after which your Mac will shut down.

3. Enter your user password for authentication and press ‘Return’.

4. If you’ve done everything correctly, the Terminal will confirm that your shutdown timer has been set and will give you a process ID (PID) number. Make a note of this number, as you’ll need it if you want to disable the shutdown timer later.

Method 3: Create a Desktop Shortcut for the Shutdown Timer on Mac

Creating a shortcut on your desktop to shut down your Mac is an easy one-time step. All you have to do is make an Automator program that runs the shutdown command, then save it as an application on your desktop.

1. Open Automator from the Applications folder or by searching for it using Spotlight.

2. Select “Application” as the document type and click “Choose”.

3. In the left-hand panel, search for “Run AppleScript” and drag it into the workflow area.

4. In the text box, type following command:

delay 1800

tell application "Finder"

    shut down

end tell

The delay 1800 the command will pause the script for 1800 seconds (30 minutes) before executing the shut down command.

5. Save the application to your desktop by clicking “File” > “Save” and choosing a location and name for the file.

Now, you can double-click the application on your desktop to schedule a shutdown timer on your Mac.

Method 4: Use Third-Party Applications

There are a couple of handy Mac apps that make setting shutdown timers simple. 

• Timer Clock (a paid app) and Almighty- Powerful tweaks (a free app with premium features) provide an easy-to-use interface for setting shutdown timers on your Mac and performing other power actions like sleep, restart, and log out. 
• Timer Clock: It lets you set multiple countdown timers for different actions, including shutting down your Mac. You can set a one-time timer or recurring timers that run daily, weekly, or monthly. 
• Almighty- Powerful tweaks: This is a free app with premium features that provides various system enhancements, including scheduling power actions. You can schedule actions like shutdown, sleep, restart, and log out on a schedule that works for you. 

Conclusion:

There are lots of simple ways to set up automatic shutdown on your Mac. You can use the power scheduler built right in, type some commands into the Terminal, make a shortcut icon on your desktop, or download an app. Tons of options! This guide should've shown ya the different methods for setting up auto shutdown on your Mac. Just make sure to save any open files before your computer turns off itself, otherwise, you might lose any unsaved work. 

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