There are sometimes circumstances where for some reasons we forgot to turn off our desktop computer or laptop at home or office and it’s  simply a waste energy to let them consume  the increasingly valuable electricity. You may simply go back to the computer and shut it down  manually  if you’re not in a rush, but what if you got a plane to catch up or you’re already miles away from the computer? Well it’s can be quite annoying and there in one simple solution to this : Use a simple command prompt (batch) file  and send an email to shutdown remote computer!!

It may perhaps sound inconceivable but yes you can turn the remote computer simply by sending an email so long as it’s still connected to the internet and email clients such as Outlook and Thunderbird still running.

Here is a tutorial to shutdown remote computer using simple batch file sent via email.

A. Using Outlook

A.1 . Create a batch file  on the  computer you want to shutdown remotely

Create a bat file by opening notepad and create a new file with the following command line  and then save on your computer with with any name.  Don’t forget to append it with .bat extension and use save as in all file options, example : shutdown.bat

C:\WINDOWS\system32\shutdown.exe -s -f -t 00

Save the newly-created bat file somewhere on your computer ie in  C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator

A.2 . Configure Outlook to execute the batch File

Go to Tools —-> Rules and Alert and create a new rule that enables Outlook to execute the command file, choose “Start from a blank rules” and then click “Next” as shown bellow :

Create new rules in MS Outlook

Figure 1 : Create New Rules in MS Outlook 2003

Check the “with specific word in  subject or in the body” menu, click on the specific word and replace it with ” shutdown” (without quote) and then click next:

remote shutdown computer with command prompt, outlook rules and allert settings

Figure 2 : Create Specific Words Rules in MS Outlook 2003


Next : Check the start application —–> Click on “Application” and then point to the file shutdown.bat file in your computer :

Figure 3 : Configure Outlook to run specific application


Click finish, now Outlook has been configured to run the bat file every time an email containing “shutdown” word  in the subject arrives. The command prompt file is an executable file that will turn your computer off  automatically.

B. Using Thunderbird

Suppose that you don’t have a corporate email and wish to use free email client in this case you’re using Thunderbird, a free email client from Mozilla:

Download email client Thunderbird here
Install Thunderbird on the  computer you wish  to remotely shutdown and configure it to use your favorite email service , in this case I use Gmail.
At first installation Thunderbird will look up the right settings for your email account after you fill in your email  username and password

or you can manually enter the settings : click  Tools ——> Account settings .

B.1. Install Thunderbird

Here are the manual server configurations you should enter if you choose to use POP3  :

POP server  settings : pop.gmail.com port 995, SMTP server setting : smtp.gmail.com port 465




Figure 4: Gmail  SMTP server settings Thunderbird


pop settings gmail

Figure 5 : Gmail  POP3 server settings Thunderbird


B.2. Install and Configure  Thunderbird  Mailbox Alert Addon
  1. Download Mailbox Alert addon  here and save the file to your hard disk.
  2. In Mozilla Thunderbird, open Add-ons from the Tools menu.
  3. Click the Install button, and locate/select the file you downloaded and click “OK”
  4. Go to Mailbox Alert Menu preferences by clicking on Tools ———> Mailbox Alert Mailbox Alert preferences and configure it to execute the shutdown bat file once it receive a email containing the shutdown in the subject  it as shown in the picture bellow. Fill the “execute a command’ field with the path where the bat file is located

mailbox alert settings

Figure 6: Thunderbird Mailbox Alert Settings


Now every time when you forgot to turn your computer you can simply send an email via your mobile phone (if you’re on the go)  or other computers with the subject “shutdown”  (without quote) to the remote computer you wish to turn off.


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Filed under: Computer & Networking

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