Nudge
Turn on your PC from your phone. Shut it down, restart it or put it to sleep with one tap.
Your PC, one tap away.
Nudge is a phone app for iPhone and Android, plus a free companion app for Windows. Your phone sends a Wake-on-LAN signal to turn the PC on, and the companion app handles everything else: shut down, restart, sleep, hibernate and lock. No accounts, no cloud and no ads: your phone talks to your PC directly over your home Wi-Fi.
The PC app runs on Windows 10 (version 1809 or later) and Windows 11, 64-bit (x64).
Nudge works with Tailscale, but isn't affiliated with or endorsed by Tailscale Inc.
Take a closer look.
What it does.
Wake from your phone
A Wake-on-LAN signal over your home network turns the PC on.
Every power action
Shut down, restart and sleep, plus hibernate and lock with Pro. Shut down and restart are press-and-hold, so a stray tap does nothing.
Later, not now
Shut down in 30 minutes, or at 11:30 PM. Pro.
Automations
Turn on at a time, shut down at a time, or sleep when the PC is idle. Pro.
Away from home
Shut down, restart or sleep your PC through your own Tailscale network. Pro.
Groups
Sort PCs into groups, then wake, shut down, restart or sleep all of them at once. Pro.
Checks your wake settings
The PC app checks what waking needs, and fixes most of it in one click.
Works at the sign-in screen
The PC app runs as a Windows service, so it answers before anyone signs in.
Private
No account, no cloud, no ads and no analytics. Commands go straight to your PC, encrypted.
Free or Pro.
Free $0 | Pro $9.99 once | |
|---|---|---|
| Control | ||
| PCs | 1 | Unlimited |
| Wake, shut down, restart, sleep | ||
| Hibernate and lock | ||
| Delayed actions "In 5 min", "at 11:30 PM". | ||
| Automations Shut down at a time, sleep after idle, turn on at a time. | ||
| Groups and "all PCs" actions | ||
| Away from home | ||
| Remote control through your own Tailscale network Waking still needs your home network. | ||
Pro is a one-time purchase, not a subscription. Tap Restore purchase in Settings to unlock it on another phone signed in to the same Apple or Google account.
Set up in 3 steps
- Install the PC app on your Windows PC from the Microsoft Store. At the end of setup it shows a QR code.
- Install Nudge on your phone and connect the phone to the same Wi-Fi as the PC.
- In the phone app, tap Add a PC. Pick your PC from the list and check that the 4-digit code on the phone matches the one on the PC, then click Allow on the PC. Or tap Scan QR code and scan the code from the PC app (tray icon → Add phone).
That's it. Shut the PC down from the phone, wait until it shows Offline, then tap Wake to check that waking works.
Make sure your PC can wake up
Turning a PC on remotely needs a few settings to line up. The PC app checks most of them for you. Open it from the tray icon and look at Wake from your phone. If something is off it says so, and most fixes are one click (Windows asks for permission).
1. Turn on Wake-on-LAN in BIOS/UEFI
The PC app can't see this setting, so you need to check it once yourself.
- Restart the PC and open the BIOS/UEFI setup. The key is usually Del, F2, F10 or F12 during startup. On Windows 11 you can also go to Settings → System → Recovery → Advanced startup → Restart now → Troubleshoot → Advanced options → UEFI Firmware Settings.
- Look for a setting named something like Wake on LAN, Power On By PCI-E, Resume by PCI-E Device, Wake from onboard LAN or PME Event Wake Up. It's usually under Power, APM or Advanced. Turn it on.
- If there's an ErP / EuP (or “Deep Sleep”) setting, turn it off. It cuts power to the network card when the PC is off.
- Save and exit.
Then tick I've turned on Wake-on-LAN in BIOS in the PC app.
2. Network adapter settings
The PC app offers to fix these for you. To check them by hand:
- Open Device Manager → Network adapters, then double-click your Ethernet adapter.
- On Advanced, set Wake on Magic Packet to Enabled. On Realtek adapters, also set Shutdown Wake-On-Lan (or “WOL & Shutdown Link Speed”) if present.
- On Power Management, tick Allow this device to wake the computer. You can also tick Only allow a magic packet to wake the computer.
3. Turn off Fast Startup
Windows Fast Startup doesn't fully shut the PC down, and that often stops wake from working. The PC app offers to turn it off. To do it by hand: Control Panel → Power Options → Choose what the power buttons do → Change settings that are currently unavailable, then untick Turn on fast startup.
4. Ethernet vs Wi-Fi
- Use a cable if you can. Wake-on-LAN is designed for wired Ethernet, and it's the reliable way to turn a PC on from a full shutdown.
- Wi-Fi-only PCs usually can't be woken from a full shutdown. Many laptops can wake from sleep over Wi-Fi (“Wake on Wireless LAN”) if the Wi-Fi adapter and the PC support it. The PC app warns you when a PC only has Wi-Fi.
- Your phone can be on Wi-Fi as normal. It just needs to be on the same home network as the PC.
- Laptops usually need to be plugged in to wake.
5. Network profile: Private
Nudge only accepts connections on networks Windows treats as Private (or a work domain), never Public. If your home network is set to Public, the PC app warns you and can switch it to Private. To do it by hand, go to Settings → Network & internet → Wi-Fi or Ethernet → your network → Network profile type → Private.
iPhone: allow Local Network access
Nudge needs Local Network access to find and control your PCs. iOS asks the first time you add a PC. Tap Allow.
If you tapped Don't Allow, Nudge can't see your PCs. To fix it, open Settings → Privacy & Security → Local Network and turn on Nudge, or open Settings → Apps → Nudge and turn on Local Network. Then reopen Nudge.
The camera is only used to scan the pairing QR code. Notifications are only used for “Turn on” automations, because iOS can't run them in the background. At the set time you get a notification: tap it and Nudge turns the PC on.
Android: Alarms & reminders
For Turn on automations to run on time, Nudge needs Alarms & reminders permission. It asks when you save a turn-on. If you skipped it, open Automations and tap Allow, or go to Settings → Apps → Nudge → Alarms & reminders. Without it, the turn-on can run a few minutes late.
Use Nudge away from home (Tailscale, Pro)
Nudge works with Tailscale, a separate app that puts your devices on your own private network. Nudge doesn't include Tailscale and doesn't need a Nudge account.
- Install Tailscale on your PC and on your phone from tailscale.com/download.
- Sign in to the same Tailscale account on both, and make sure Tailscale is connected on both.
- Open Nudge once at home on the same Wi-Fi as the PC, so the phone learns the PC's Tailscale address. Pairing always happens on your home network.
Away from home, the PC card shows Via Tailscale, and you can shut down, restart, sleep, hibernate, lock and manage automations as usual.
Waking needs your home network for now. A PC that's off isn't on Tailscale, so turning it on from outside your home network isn't possible yet.
Troubleshooting
My PC doesn't show up when I tap Add a PC.
- Check that the phone and the PC are on the same Wi-Fi/network (not a guest network, and the phone isn't on mobile data).
- Check that the PC app is installed and running. Look for the Nudge icon in the tray. If it says Nudge service isn't running, restart the PC. If that doesn't help, reinstall the PC app.
- Set the network to Private on the PC (see above).
- On iPhone, allow Local Network (see above).
- Some routers block devices from seeing each other (“AP isolation” or “client isolation”). Turn it off in the router settings, or use Scan QR code instead.
- Use Scan QR code with the PC app's Add phone QR. It doesn't depend on discovery.
Wake doesn't turn my PC on.
- Work through Make sure your PC can wake up. Most failures are BIOS/UEFI Wake-on-LAN being off, Fast Startup, ErP being on, or a Wi-Fi-only PC.
- After changing settings, turn the PC on normally once, then shut it down from Nudge (not by holding the power button or pulling the plug) and try again.
- The phone must be on the same network as the PC to wake it.
- Wake waits up to 90 seconds for the PC to answer. Some PCs take longer to boot, so it may still come online.
The card says “Different network” or “Phone not on Wi-Fi”.
Your phone isn't on the PC's network. Connect it to your home Wi-Fi. If you have Pro and Tailscale set up, power actions still work over Tailscale.
“Can't reach [PC]” when I'm away.
Make sure Tailscale is on and connected on both the phone and the PC, and that both are signed in to the same Tailscale account. A PC that is off or asleep can't be reached until it's woken at home.
Shut down or restart failed (“Couldn't restart…”).
Windows refused, often because an app is blocking it or another user is signed in. Nudge shows the reason. Force closes apps without saving, so use it only if nothing important is open.
Sleep isn't available.
Some PCs use Modern Standby and don't support sleep on request. Nudge tells you when this is the case. Shut down or hibernate instead.
“This phone was removed”.
The phone was removed in the PC app, so it no longer has access. Tap Pair again while you're on the same Wi-Fi as the PC.
“Identity changed”.
The PC answering at that address has a different security certificate than the one you paired with, for example after reinstalling Windows. If you're sure it's your PC, remove it in the app and pair it again.
A turn-on automation didn't run.
Turn-on is sent by your phone, so the phone must be on the PC's network at that time. On Android, allow Alarms & reminders. On iPhone, tap the notification, because iOS doesn't let apps run in the background on a schedule. A PC that's asleep (not shut down) can also wake itself if Allow wake timers is on in Windows Power Options.
Windows shows a SmartScreen or firewall prompt.
Install the PC app from the Microsoft Store. It sets up the firewall rules it needs for Private networks, so you shouldn't see a firewall prompt.
Questions.
Do I need an account?
No. There's no Nudge account and no sign-in.
Does Nudge send my data to the cloud?
No. Your phone and PC talk directly on your network, and commands are encrypted. The only outside service involved is the store purchase check for Pro.
Do I have to install something on my PC?
Yes, the free Nudge PC app from the Microsoft Store. Waking works by itself, but shut down, restart, sleep, hibernate, lock and automations need the PC app.
Does it work with Mac or Linux?
Not at the moment. The PC app is Windows-only.
Does it work over mobile data or from another house?
Yes for power actions, with Pro and your own Tailscale network set up. Waking needs the phone on the PC's home network for now.
Can several phones control the same PC?
Yes. Pair each phone with the PC. Any paired phone can see and cancel a scheduled action. Remove phones you no longer use in the PC app.
Can I control several PCs?
Free controls one PC. Pro controls unlimited PCs, and you can sort them into groups and wake, shut down, restart or sleep all of them at once.
Is Pro a subscription?
No. It's $9.99 once (or the equivalent in your currency), and you keep it. Use Restore purchase on a new phone.
Can I get a refund?
Refunds are handled by Apple or Google. Request one through the App Store (reportaproblem.apple.com) or Google Play (your order history).
What happens to unsaved work when I shut down remotely?
Normal shutdown and restart let Windows ask apps to close. If an app blocks it, Nudge tells you. Force closes apps without saving. Scheduled actions show a countdown on the PC that anyone at the PC can cancel.
Does the PC have to be signed in?
No. The PC app runs as a Windows service, so wake, shut down, restart, sleep and hibernate work at the sign-in screen too. Lock needs someone to be signed in.
Is Nudge affiliated with Tailscale?
No. Nudge works with Tailscale, but it isn't affiliated with or endorsed by Tailscale Inc.
How do I remove everything?
Delete the phone app. On the PC, uninstall Nudge from Settings → Apps, leaving "Also delete pairings and settings" ticked.
How much does Nudge cost?
Free · Pro $9.99. Pro is a one-time in-app purchase, not a subscription.
What do I need to run Nudge?
An iPhone or an Android phone. Windows 10 (1809 or later) or 11, 64-bit, with the free Nudge PC app. The phone on the PC's home network to pair and to wake.
Still stuck?
Something not working, or have an idea? Email [email protected] and tell us your phone model, your Windows version, and what the PC app shows under Wake from your phone.
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