How to play Sound when you Shutdown, Lock, Unlock Windows 11

If you want to play a sound when you shut down, lock, or unlock your Windows 11/10 computer, then this article will show you how to do it. Although Microsoft removed this functionality to improve the performance and user experience, you can use the Task Scheduler to perform this task.

To create an automated task to play a shutdown sound, you must sign in as an administrator. Also, if you want to play custom audio, you need to convert your regular .mp3 file to .wav format.

Play a sound when you Shutdown, Lock, or Unlock Windows 11/10

To play a sound when you Shutdown, Lock, or Unlock Windows 11/10, follow these steps:

Open the Task Scheduler app.
Create a new task.
Configure system shutdown as the ‘trigger’
Configure an action to play custom sound using a PowerShell script.
Save the task.

Let us have a detailed look at these steps.

1] Open the Task Scheduler app

Type ‘task scheduler’ in the Windows Search bar and click Open next to the Task Scheduler app that appears on top of the search results.

2] Create a new task

Now, you need to select Task Scheduler Library on the left side and click on the Create Task button on your right side.

In the General tab, write the name of your task in the Name field on top. Then under the Security options section, select the ‘Run whether user is logged on or not‘ option, and select the Run with highest privileges checkbox.

After that, expand the Configure for drop-down list at the bottom and select Windows 10. Windows 11 users should also select the ‘Windows 10’ option. This option works with both Windows 11/10.

3] Configure system shutdown as the ‘trigger’

Next, you need to switch to the Triggers tab and click the New button.

In the New Trigger window, select On an event from Begin the task drop-down list, System from the Log drop-down list, and enter 1074 as the Event ID. 1074 represents user-initiated shutdown.

Click OK to continue.

4] Configure an action to play custom sound using a PowerShell script

Next, you need to switch to the Actions tab and click the New button.

In the New Action window, select Start a program from Action drop-down list, write PowerShell in the Program/Script box, and enter the following argument in the Add arguments box-

-c (New-Object Media.SoundPlayer 'C:\Windows\Media\Windows Shutdown.wav').PlaySync();

C:\Windows\Media\Windows Shutdown.wav is the default shutdown sound.

If you want to use custom audio, you need to place the audio file in the C:\Windows\Media\ folder and select the path in the argument.

After clicking the OK button, you need to go to the Conditions tab. From here, you need to uncheck the Start the task only if the computer is on AC power option.

5] Save the task

Click OK to save the task. Now you should see a prompt where you have to enter the user account password. Enter the password and click OK.

If you do that successfully, a new task will be created and your Windows 11/10 system will play the set sound when you shut down the PC.

If you want to play a sound when you Lock or Unlock your Windows 11/10 computer, you can follow the same steps. The only difference is that you need to select On workstation lock or On workstation unlock under the Begin the task dropdown in the New Trigger window.

That’s all! I hope you find this useful.

Read: How to disable System Beep in Windows.

How do I play Windows startup sound?

Click the Start button icon on your Windows 11/10 PC and select Settings. The Settings window will appear. Navigate to Personalisation > Themes. Then click the Sounds option on top. The Sound dialogue will appear. Check the ‘Play Windows Startup sound‘ option to enable the Windows startup sound.

Does Windows 11 have a shutdown sound?

Microsoft has removed the logon, logoff, and shutdown sound in newer versions of Windows to make it boot or shutdown faster. However, there are workarounds to enable the shutdown sound in Windows 11. You can create an automated task in the Task Scheduler app to play a custom sound when you shut down Windows. Alternatively, you can create a PowerShell script to play a shutdown sound and set it up for your Windows 11 PC using the Group Policy Editor.