# How to Enable or Disable Auto-shutdown

Machines are Linux and Windows virtual machines with persistent storage, GPU options, and free unlimited bandwidth. They’re designed for high-performance computing (HPC) workloads.

The [auto-shutdown feature](https://docs.digitalocean.com/products/paperspace/machines/details/features/index.html.md#auto-shutdown) places your machine in a **stop** state after a predefined period of inactivity, which can range from one hour to one week. For example, if you select one hour, the machine automatically shuts down after an hour of no activity. For more details on machine states, see the [Machine States and Error Codes reference](https://docs.digitalocean.com/products/paperspace/machines/reference/states-and-error-codes/index.html.md).

On Windows-based machines, auto-shutdown occurs only if the machine is idle with no active connections. In contrast, Linux-based machines shut down after the specified idle time, regardless of whether any users are connected.

**Note**: As of 1 July 2024, Windows-based templates are retired and unavailable to new Paperspace users. If you joined Paperspace prior to this date, you can still start, manage, and create Windows-based template machines.

The [Paperspace API](https://docs.digitalocean.com/reference/paperspace/api-reference/index.html.md) and [Paperspace CLI](https://docs.digitalocean.com/reference/paperspace/pspace/index.html.md) cannot enable or disable auto-shutdown on existing machines. You can only manage the auto-shutdown feature via the [Paperspace console](https://console.paperspace.com).

To enable or disable auto-shutdown on your machine, go to the [Paperspace console](https://console.paperspace.com), in the top-right corner, click the drop-down menu, select **CORE**, then click the **Machines** tab. In the **Machines** section, find and select the machine you want to enable or disable auto-shutdown for. In the machine’s overview page, click the **Settings** tab, then at the bottom is the **Auto-shutdown** section.

To enable auto-shutdown, toggle the option on, click the drop-down menu, then select the idle time after which your machine automatically shuts down. After you’ve selected an idle time, click **SAVE**. To disable auto-shutdown, toggle the option off.