How to Schedule Restart in Windows 10

In this tutorial, we are going to see how to schedule restart in windows 10 using the Run command window, or via a simple program that you will create yourself.
 

Schedule Restart using Run Command

There is a DOS command on Windows called “shutdown” with attributes such as “-t”, “-s” or “-r” allowing respectively to execute the command after t seconds, to stop it or to restart it.

To restart the computer after X seconds, here is the command to follow:

shutdown -r -t X

 

 

Cancel the schedule

To cancel the schedule, simply execute this command:

shutdown -a

 
 

Schedule Restart Using a “.cmd” Program.

All you have to do is open a new Notepad file.
 

 

 
Then paste this code below.

@Echo off
GOTO MENU

:MENU
Echo !! ------------------------------------ !!
Echo !!   System reboot management        !!
Echo !! ------------------------------------ !!
Echo 1 - Schedule system reboot...
Echo 2 - Cancel the schedule
Echo !! ------------------------------------ !!
SET /p Action=Your choice (1 or 2) :

IF %Action% == 1 GOTO RestartSchedule
IF %Action% == 2 GOTO CancelSchedule
IF %Action% GTR 2 GOTO WrongValue

:CancelSchedule
shutdown -a
Echo Schedule Cancelled
Goto Fin

:RestartSchedule
Echo !! Info : 1 heure = 3600 secondes !!
SET /p Secondes= Seconds before system reboot :
IF '%Secondes%' == '' GOTO RestartSchedule
shutdown -r -t %Secondes%
GOTO Fin


:WrongValue
CLS
Echo !!! Warning : Incorrect value entered !!!
GOTO Menu

:Fin

You only have to save the file with the extension “.cmd”.

Double-click to run the “.cmd” file program.
 

 
When you will execute the program you will have a window like this one:
 

 

 

Schedule Restart Using a Shortcut

Create a shortcut on the desktop to schedule the reboot. Right click on the desktop and then select : New > Shortcut
 

 
Copy and paste the following command. Here 3600 secondes = 1 heure

%SystemRoot%\System32\shutdown.exe -f -s -t 3600

 

 
Chose a name for the shortcut.
 

 
Here is an executable shortcut that you can modify at any time via the contextual menu (Right click then Properties)