Mac shutdown timer

Nightcap is a free Mac shutdown timer you start from the menu bar. No Terminal, no password, and no commands to remember when you change your mind.

Most guides send you to Terminal for sudo shutdown -h +60. Nightcap does the same job in two clicks and shows you how long is left.

Free and open source. For Apple silicon and Intel Macs with macOS 11 or later.

Skip the commands

In Terminal, you set a timer with sudo shutdown -h +60, type your password, and cancel it with sudo killall shutdown.

In Nightcap, you pick a length and press Start. Custom lengths run from 1 minute to 12 hours.

The shutdown command runs silently, so it's easy to forget it's set. Nightcap shows the countdown next to the moon in your menu bar.

Pause, +15 Minutes and Cancel Timer are all in the same menu.

Pick Shut Down or Sleep under When finished. Sleep keeps your apps open for the morning. Shut Down turns the Mac off, so save your work first.

The first time, macOS asks whether Nightcap can control "System Events". Allow it, since that's how Nightcap turns the Mac off.

The screen dims and the volume lowers before the end, so a show fades away instead of stopping dead.

No account, no ads, and it works offline.

To restart on a timer, or shut down at the same time every night, use sudo shutdown -r or sudo pmset repeat.

The first time you open Nightcap, macOS asks you to allow it in Privacy & Security. Here's how.