Make your Mac start up and shut down at a set time each day

Why it happens

Older versions of macOS had a Schedule button for this, but Apple removed it from the settings. The feature itself is still there, and the pmset command in Terminal controls it. It needs your admin password because it changes how the whole Mac powers on and off.

How to fix it

1. If you'd like to check for yourself, open Battery in System Settings, or Energy on a desktop Mac. You'll find no option for start-up or shut-down times there.

   Battery

2. Open Terminal. It's in the Utilities folder inside Applications, or press Command-Space, type Terminal and press Return.

3. Copy the command from the Terminal box below, paste it into Terminal and press Return. When it asks for your password, type your Mac login password and press Return. Your account needs to be an administrator for this. Nothing appears while you type, which is normal.

4. As written, the command wakes or starts your Mac at 08:00 and shuts it down at 19:00, Monday to Friday. To change it, edit the times (24-hour, hours:minutes:seconds) and the day letters before you press Return: M, T, W, R for Thursday, F, S for Saturday and U for Sunday.

5. To stop the schedule later, run the undo line from the same box. Your Mac then goes back to starting and stopping only when you tell it to.

Still not fixed?

1. If the Mac didn't shut down on time, check that it was awake and logged in. A document with unsaved changes can also hold up a shutdown, so save your work before the set time.

2. If it didn't start at the set time, leave it plugged in. A MacBook does best with the lid open and the charger connected, and leaving the Mac asleep overnight instead of shut down gives it less to do in the morning.

3. Running the command again with new times replaces the old schedule, so there's no need to cancel first.

4. On a desktop Mac that should come back on after a power cut, there is a setting for that. Turn on Start up automatically after a power failure in Energy.

   Energy›Start up automatically after a power failure

5. If your Mac won't wake or shut down on schedule even when plugged in and logged in, contact Apple Support. They can check whether something on your Mac is blocking it.