On the very top line of the text file, type #!/bin/bash. If the document is not in plain text, press command + shift + T to switch to plain text.Ī partially complete script for a shutdown timer.

To do this, open TextEdit and click New Document. If you find yourself using the same shutdown timer often, you may want to create a desktop shortcut for the timer. If you wish to cancel a shutdown timer, take note of its pid and enter this command in Terminal: sudo kill. It will also give you the process ID, also known as a pid, which is a three- to four-digit number.

The shutdown timer will then be created, giving you the exact time and date that the shutdown/restart/sleep process will occur. When you enter one of these commands, you will need to enter the password for the user account and press return.

A 1-hour sleep timer: sudo shutdown -s +60.

A 30-minute restart timer: sudo shutdown -r +30.

A 15-minute shutdown timer: sudo shutdown -h +15.

Some example shutdown timer commands would look like: If you remember this shutdown command, you can simply open Terminal and enter the command to create a shutdown timer. This is a shutdown timer command for 15 minutes with a pid of 842.

There are other options, which you can read more about in Apple's shutdown documentation, but for the purpose of a shutdown timer, -h, -r and -s are likely all you will need to know. -s will put the Mac to sleep instead of shutdown.-h will halt the system at a specified time.But there are some important options that you will also want to use to make this shutdown timer meet your needs. The shutdown command will, as expected, shut down your Mac when used in Terminal. If you want a shutdown timer that's more adaptable, you only need to know a few terminal commands. Just select a time for the sleep or shutdown to happen after the process is expected to finish. Still, you could use it to shut down your computer at a specific time. There you can set a time and day (weekends or weekdays, too) that the Mac will start up or wake, as well as a time and day(s) when it will restart, shut down or sleep.Īs useful as the schedule feature is, it's limited in how it can work. To enable it and create a schedule, go to System Preferences > Energy Saver and click Schedule. in the lower right corner of the window. Under Energy Saver settings, MacOS has a built-in wake and sleep schedule. Read more: If you're looking for a shutdown timer on Windows, there's a quick tip for that, as well. But you don't need any dedicated software. If you ever find yourself in a situation where you want to shut down your Mac after a time-consuming process has finished, such as downloading and installing updates, or exporting a video, what you need is a shutdown timer.Ī few applications for this exist in the Mac App Store, such as Timer Boom and the aptly named Shutdown Timer.

Mac shortcut to shutdown