Back to normal in the morning
Wake your PC and Nightcap puts the brightness and volume back where they were.
Windows sleep timer
Nightcap is a free Windows sleep timer for Windows 11 and 10. It dims the screen, turns the volume down and puts your PC to sleep after a set time.
Windows doesn't have one. Its power settings only count idle time, and a playing video keeps the PC awake.
Free and open source. No installer, no account.
Real sleep, not a forced shutdown
The usual trick, shutdown /s /t 3600, turns the PC off and closes your programs without asking to save.
Nightcap can Sleep, Hibernate or Shut Down. Sleep keeps every window and tab open for the morning. Hibernate shows up when it's turned on in Windows.
Lives in the system tray
Click the moon next to the clock to start a 15, 30, 45 or 90 minute or 1 hour timer.
Check the time left, pause, add 15 minutes or cancel from the same menu, without opening a window.
It fades out like a TV
Twenty minutes before the end, the screen starts to dim, then the volume comes down, so your show trails off instead of cutting out.
Laptop screens and monitors with DDC/CI dim for real. Other monitors get a see-through dark layer you can still click through.
Nothing to install
Extract the zip and run Nightcap.exe. Custom lengths go up to 12 hours.
Free and open source
No ads, no subscription, and it works offline.
Put your PC to bed tonight
If Windows says "Windows protected your PC", click More info, then Run anyway. Getting started has the full steps.
More ways to use Nightcap
- Mac sleep timerPut your MacBook to sleep after 30, 60 or 90 minutes, from the menu bar.
- Mac shutdown timerShut down your Mac on a timer without typing Terminal commands.
- Linux sleep timerSuspend your Linux computer on a timer, with a tray icon and a fade.
- Netflix sleep timerFall asleep to Netflix, YouTube or Spotify without it playing all night.
- Shutdown Timer Classic alternativeHow Nightcap compares with Shutdown Timer Classic, Wise Auto Shutdown and Sleepr.