How to Set up Your Computer to Turn on Automatically Every Day
One of the most useful features on any Windows PC or Mac is the ability to schedule it to turn on at a set time every day. It’s a quick way to start your day, even when you’re brewing coffee or lying in bed for a few extra minutes – whatever you do, instead of sitting at your desk waiting for your desktop or laptop to boot.
If you’re a Mac user, it’s easy to set up : just go to System Preferences> Power Saver (or Battery if you’re using macOS Big Sur), where you’ll then use the Schedule option to set startup or wake-up times for your system.
In Windows, you have to tinker with your system BIOS to take advantage of this feature, and since there are so many different system manufacturers and motherboard manufacturers, you may not have this option at all.
In my system BIOS, this feature is hidden in the advanced BIOS settings menu under the “APM configuration menu” – short for “Advanced Power Management” if you didn’t know. When I turn on Power On By RTC (which stands for Real Time Clock), I can tell my system to run at a specific time every day (or whatever interval of days I want).
If your BIOS supports this setting, you’ll probably find it in some sort of power management menu. It may refer to “RTC” or it may have another general description such as “Auto On Time”. You will have to dig a little, but this feature is worth exploring if you find it.
What to do if scheduled startup doesn’t work with Windows 10
If you are trying to schedule a BIOS startup on a system running Windows 10, you may need to disable Fast Startup first. If enabled, the system hibernates your system on shutdown rather than on normal shutdown – and this could potentially cause some problems with BIOS settings.
I usually advise turning off Fast Startup anyway, especially if your computer is fast and doesn’t save you any noticeable time. If turning on your computer on schedule does not work for you, you can check if this option is enabled by going to Control Panel> Power Options> Choose what the power buttons do. Once there, uncheck the “Enable Fast Startup” box.