There are many reasons why it can be useful to remotely turn off your computer: to prevent overheating, to save energy, to prevent intrusions on your computer... or simply because you can't be bothered to get up from your sofa or your bed... in short, it can be very useful, especially if you can do this from a device that you always have with you: your smartphone!
So we're going to see how to put your computer to sleep or shut down remotely from your smartphone in a few simple steps.
Install Unified Remote
The Unified Remote app actually offers various remote controls for different uses related to your computer, but today we're going to use it for the specific purpose of playing with your computer's power: sleep, shutdown, hibernation, and even power on for computers capable of using Wake On Lan features.
To use it, you will need to download the free app Unified Remote available for iOS, Android and Windows Phone on your smartphone and install its server application on your computer (you can find it here). The desktop app is available for Windows, MacOS, Linux and even Raspberry Pi!
Installing the server application on your computer is not particularly difficult. Let the installation utility guide you.
Configure Unified Remote
Once the server is installed on your machine, go to the smartphone application. To do this, it is necessary that your computer and smartphone are connected to the same WiFi network.
When you launch the application, it will scan your local network for a Unified Remote server.
Once the server is found, you will access a list of features offered by the application.
Choose the last one: “Power”.
You will then have access to all of your computer's power options, including:
- Restart
- Shutdown
- Log Off (to disconnect your session)
- Lock (to lock your session)
- Sleep (Standby)
- Wake on Lan (allows you to start a computer that is turned off, if your computer allows it)
- Hibernate (Hibernation mode)
- Abort
Unified Remote is very easy to use on your local WiFi network. But it is also possible to connect remotely from anywhere. The site also offers an English tutorial to help you set up your connectionThe manipulation is not very complicated but still requires that you are able to rummage around in the port management of your router or Internet box.
As you will have understood, Unified Remote offers many other possibilities that I will let you discover. In the meantime, you now have a tool allowing you to control the standby and shutdown of your computer remotely, from your smartphone!
