Stage 1 · Asleep
Leave your main computer sleeping.
Run WOL from the laptop you have with you when you need that computer again.
Turn on your computer from another room.
Wake a compatible sleeping computer on your network from your laptop. Check when it responds, then open your configured remote app. Free and open source.
Your laptop runs WOL → Your compatible main computer
How one wake works
Stage 1 · Asleep
Leave your main computer sleeping.
Run WOL from the laptop you have with you when you need that computer again.
Stage 2 · Select on your laptop
Choose your computer.
Open WOL and highlight the computer you saved.
Stage 3 · Action menu
Press Enter, then choose Wake.
Enter opens the action menu. Choose Wake to send the signal.
Stage 4 · Signal sent
The wake-up signal is sent.
WOL checks whether the computer responds.
Stage 5 · Responding
Your computer responds.
The recorded program reports a response on the network.
After it responds
Connect with the app you use.
Open your configured remote app after the computer responds. Wake & Remote needs a configured service, client and WOL profile.
Detailed archive install →First-time setup in 3 steps.
Prepare the target computer once while it is awake, install WOL on the computer you control from, and save your target to the local inventory.
- 1
Allow the target computer to be woken up
Do this on the computer you want to wake while it is still awake. Connect it with an Ethernet cable; most Wi-Fi cards power down during sleep and cannot receive wake-up signals.
- Open Device Manager → Network adapters → your Ethernet adapter.
- In Power Management, enable “Allow this device to wake the computer”.
- In Advanced, set “Wake on Magic Packet” to Enabled, and disable Windows Fast Startup if waking from shutdown.
Still not waking? Check your motherboard BIOS/UEFI for a Wake-on-LAN or PCIe wake setting. Read common questions
Windows
- Open Device Manager → Network adapters → your Ethernet adapter.
- In Power Management, enable “Allow this device to wake the computer”.
- In Advanced, set “Wake on Magic Packet” to Enabled, and disable Windows Fast Startup if waking from shutdown.
macOS
- Connect your Mac (Mac mini, iMac, Mac Studio, or Mac with wired Ethernet) to your router or switch.
- Open System Settings → Displays / Energy Saver (or Battery → Options on laptops on power adapter).
- Enable “Wake for network access”.
Linux
- Identify your wired Ethernet interface (for example eth0 or enp3s0) and check support with ethtool.
- Enable magic-packet wake using ethtool -s <iface> wol g or your NetworkManager / systemd-networkd profile so it persists across reboots.
- Verify that BIOS/UEFI allows wake from PCIe/LAN.
- 2
Install WOL on the computer you use
Download the archive for your computer, verify it, then install.
Downloadable stable release: v0.4.18 (2026-10-15)
Full step-by-step installation guide → - 3
Open WOL and add your target computer
While the target computer is awake on your network, discover it or add its MAC address manually so WOL saves it to your local SQLite inventory.
wolLaunch the terminal UI from your controller computer.nDiscover active machines on your local network.Space / EnterSelect your target computer with Space, then press Enter to review details.aIf discovery finds nothing, press a to add the MAC and IP manually.Ctrl+SSave the device entry to your local inventory.sCheck current responsiveness, then put the target to sleep and test Wake.
Works with what you have.
Run WOL on macOS, Linux, or Windows. Wake any desktop, workstation, or NAS whose wired network interface supports Wake-on-LAN.
- Windows PCDesktops, workstations, and home gaming rigs with wired Ethernet WoL enabled.
- MacMac mini, iMac, Mac Studio, or Macs on wired Ethernet with Wake for network access.
- LinuxHome servers, desktops, and lab nodes configured for magic-packet wake (wol g).
- NAS appliancesSynology, QNAP, TrueNAS, and custom storage servers supporting standard magic packets.
- Configured remote appsWorks alongside your existing SSH, Remote Desktop (RDP), VNC, or Moonlight setup.
- Another subnet or networkReachable when you configure a VPN or an SSH relay running etherwake on an OpenWrt router you own.
Questions
Can it turn on a computer that is completely shut down?
Waking from sleep (S3 / modern standby with wired LAN active) works on most desktop hardware. Waking from complete shutdown (S5) depends on your motherboard firmware, network adapter power policies, and OS settings—on Windows, disabling Fast Startup is often required.
Does it work over Wi-Fi?
Your controller laptop can send the wake-up signal over Wi-Fi, as long as it is bridged to the same LAN. However, the sleeping target computer almost always needs a wired Ethernet cable because most wireless adapters turn off packet listening during sleep.
Can I wake my home computer when I am not at home?
WOL magic packets are local network broadcasts and do not cross the public internet by themselves. To wake a machine from another network, connect through your own VPN first or configure an SSH relay in WOL to a router (such as OpenWrt with etherwake) on the target LAN.
Is it safe? Does it send my data anywhere?
WOL is a standalone local CLI and TUI with no cloud service, daemon, or telemetry. Your saved machines live in a local SQLite database on your computer, and neither the tool nor this website sends your inventory to any external server.
Do I need to know network administration?
No specialist networking background is required for a standard home LAN. You only need to enable Wake-on-LAN once on the target computer while it is awake, then let WOL discover it (or enter its MAC address) and save it.
How much does it cost?
WOL is free and open-source software released under the Apache-2.0 License, with no subscription, paid tier, or account requirement.
For the technically curious
Exact protocol, storage, and verification capabilities built into the CLI and TUI.
Show technical details
- 102-byte UDP magic packets sent to the configured subnet broadcast, with per-device port and outbound interface tolerance.
- Batch wake by site with bounded concurrency, clean SIGINT/SIGTERM cancellation, and retry of failed targets.
- Site profiles with subnet/broadcast calculation and optional SSH relays (such as etherwake on OpenWrt).
- Observed-responsiveness checks via TCP port probe, ICMP ping, and local ARP table inspection.
- Concurrency-safe local SQLite inventory, atomic JSON import/export, and structured JSON/JSONL CLI output.
- Detached Ed25519 manifest signatures over SHA256SUMS since v0.4.16; wol update always verifies SHA-256 archive digests.
Latest release snapshot
Downloadable stable release: v0.4.18 (2026-10-15)
- Improve normal-text contrast on dark TUI panels while preserving the theme and existing ASCII/NO_COLOR controls (#19).
- Add WOL_TUI_REDACT=1 to hide machine/network identifiers, form values and diagnostic details in Wake Desk. Actual wake/presence inputs, inventory, exports and logs are unchanged. Power/action indicators remain visible; turn redaction off to inspect diagnostic details (#19).