How to Play a Sound at Shutdown in Windows 10
Starting in Windows 8, the Windows Shutdown sound event has been disabled. This leaves you unable to change or play the Windows Shutdown sound when a user selects to shut down the PC in Windows 10.
As a workaround, you can still create an elevated task to play a sound at shutdown Windows 10.
This tutorial will show you how to play a sound at shutdown for all users in Windows 10.
You must be signed in as an administrator with a password to create an elevated task.
Contents
- Option One: Add or Remove Play a Sound at Shutdown Task Automatically using a BAT file
- Option Two: Add or Remove Play a Sound at Shutdown Task Manually in Task Scheduler
Special thanks to Matthew for providing the .bat files in this option.
1 Do step 2 (add) or step 3 (remove) below for what you would like to do.
A) Download the Play_a_Sound_at_Shutdown.bat file below to your desktop.
B) Unblock the downloaded .bat file.
C) Run the .bat file.
D) If prompted by UAC, click/tap on Yes to approve running the .bat file elevated (run as administrator).
E) When prompted, enter the full path of the .wav file you want to play at shutdown. (see screenshot below)
F) When prompted, enter the password for the account to authorize the task.
G) When finished, press any key to close the command prompt.
1 Press the Win + R keys to open Run, type taskschd.msc into Run, and click/tap on OK to open Task Scheduler.
2 Click/tap on Task Scheduler Library in the left pane of Task Scheduler, and click/tap on Create Task in the right Actions pane. (see screenshot below)
3 In the General tab, type a name (ex: "Play shutdown sound") you want for this task. (see screenshot below)
4 In the General tab, select (dot) Run whether user is logged on or not. (see screenshot below)
5 In the General tab, check the Run with highest privileges box. (see screenshot below)
6 In the General tab, select Windows 10 in the Configure for drop down. (see screenshot below)
7 Click/tap on the Triggers tab, and click/tap on the New button. (see screenshot below)
8 Perform the actions below: (see screenshot below)
A) Select On an event in the Begin the task drop down.
B) Select System in the Log drop down.
C) Type 1074 (user initiated shutdown) in the Event ID drop down, and click/tap on OK.
9 Click/tap on the Actions tab, and click/tap on the New button. (see screenshot below)
10 Perform the actions below: (see screenshot below)
A) Select Start a program in the Action drop down.
B) TypePowerShell
in the Program/script field box.
C) Enter the command below into the Add arguments field box, and click/tap on OK.
-c (New-Object Media.SoundPlayer 'C:\Windows\Media\Windows Shutdown.wav').PlaySync();
If you wanted to play a sound (.wav file) of your choice instead, you can substitute C:\Windows\Media\Windows Shutdown.wav in the command above with the full path of the .wav file you want to be played.
11 Click/tap on the Conditions tab, uncheck the Start the task only if the computer is on AC power box, and click/tap on OK. (see screenshot below)
12 Enter your account's password, and click/tap on OK. (see screenshot below)
13 This task (ex: "Play shutdown sound") is now finished, and will now play a sound at sign-in for all users on your PC. (see screenshot below)
That's it,
Shawn
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