3 Ways to Schedule Shutdown Timer on Mac

Quick Tips

• Use System Preferences > Energy Saver (Monterey and earlier) to set a shutdown schedule. On macOS Ventura, this option is unavailable.
• Open Terminal and use sudo shutdown -h +30 to shut down in 30 minutes. Adjust the time as needed.
• Explore third-party applications like Sleep Timer and Timer Clock for additional scheduling options.

Method 1: Using Built-in Power Scheduler

The power scheduling feature was built into the Mac. However, with macOS Ventura, Apple removed the Energy Saver option, letting you schedule wake, sleep, startup, and shutdown.

So, if you are running Mac on Monterey or earlier, follow the below steps, and if you are running macOS Ventura, move to the next method.

Step 1: Click on the Apple logo, and select System Preferences.

Step 2: Go to Energy Saver.

Step 3: Select the Schedule option.

Step 4: Specify the day, time, and action to be executed.

Step 5: Finally, click Apply.

That’s it. You have successfully scheduled your Mac to shut down at a specified time. If you feel that the steps are too long to follow, there are some handy applications such as Timer Clock (paid) and Almighty- Powerful tweaks (freemium) that get the job done relatively easily.

That said, if you are on macOS Ventura or want to execute the same without touching the Energy Saver option, move to the next method.

Method 2: Using Terminal

Step 1: Press the Command + Space key, type Terminal, and press the Return key.

Step 2: Type the below command and press Return.

sudo shutdown -h +30

Note: -h lets you set a timer, while +30 is the number of minutes after which your Mac will shut down. You can add any number of hours, but make sure you convert it to minutes. 

Step 3: Enter your user password for authentication and press Return.

Note: When you type your password it won’t be displayed.

There you have it. The terminal will acknowledge and set your shutdown timer if you have done everything right.

It will also assign the process with a process ID (PID) number. Note the ID number as it will be useful when disabling the shutdown timer. If the steps are too complicated for you, there are third-party apps that will ease up the process. Keep reading. 

Method 3: Creating a Desktop Shortcut

Step 1: Press the Command + Space key, type TextEdit, and press the Return key.

Step 2: Click on New Document.

It will open a blank text document into view.

Step 3: Press Command+Shift+T to access the plaintext field.

Step 4: Type the below command and press the Return key twice.

#!/bin/bash

Step 5: Type the below command.

sudo shutdown -h +30

Note: -h lets you set a timer, while +30 is the number of minutes after which your Mac will shut down. You can add any number of hours, but make sure you convert it to minutes. 

Step 6: Finally, press Command+S to save the file with a simple name and destination (preferred Desktop). Uncheck the If no extension is provided, use .”txt”. options and click on Save.

Now, to make the file executable, continue following the steps below.

Step 7: Press the Command + Space key, type Terminal, and press the Return key.

Step 8: Drag and drop the .txt file you created onto the Terminal and press Return.

The terminal will auto-fetch the file location for you to quickly execute.

Step 9: Enter your user password and press Return.

Note: When you type your password, it won’t be displayed.

After which, the shutdown timer will begin, and your Mac will shut down after the set time.

Now that you know how to enable a shutdown timer, it is equally important to know how to disable it. Continue reading.

How to Disable a Shutdown Timer on Mac

Turning off the shutdown timer is easy and only involves a few steps. All you have to do is kill the Process ID (PID). Follow the steps below.

Step 1: Press the Command + Space, type Terminal, and press the Return key.

Step 2: Type the below command and press Return.

sudo kill [pid number]

Note: If you don’t remember the PID number, type sudo killall shutdown. It will disable all the active shutdown timers on your Mac.

Step 3: Enter your user password and press Return.

Note: When you type your password, it won’t be displayed.

There you have it. You have disabled a scheduled shutdown of your Mac. If you have any queries, check out the FAQ section below.

FAQs on Scheduled Shutdown on Mac

Whether you want to set up a daily shutdown timer or a one-time event, the methods mentioned in this article will help you do it.