I turned my phone into a power button for my PC, and it cost exactly $0

Published Nov 2, 2026, 5:30 PM EST Monica J. White is a journalist with over a decade of experience in covering technology. She built her first PC nearly 20 years ago, and she has since built and tested dozens of PCs. PC hardware is her main beat, and graphics cards and the GPU market at large are her main area of interest, but she has written thousands of articles covering everything related to PCs, laptops, handhelds, and peripherals. From GPUs and CPUs to headsets and software, Monica's always willing to geek out over all things related to computing. Outside of her work with How-To Geek, Monica contributes to TechRadar, PC Gamer, Tom's Guide, Laptop Mag, SlashGear, Whop, and Digital Trends, among others. Her ultimate goal is to make PC gaming and computing approachable and fun to any audience. Monica spends a lot of time elbow-deep in her PC case, as she's always making upgrades, testing something, or plotting out her next build. She's the go-to tech support person in her immediate circle, so she's never out of things to do. Whenever she has spare time, you'll find her gaming until the early hours and hanging out with her dog. Here's a problem you maybe didn't even know was a problem: turning on your PC. If your desktop sits atop your desk (as it should—please get it away from that carpet), you probably don't have far to reach. But if it's tucked underneath it, or you want to connect to it remotely, then you're out of luck. A rare problem, perhaps, but it does exist. And I found the solution: it's called Wake-on-LAN. Your PC already has a remote power button you might not know about Wake-on-LAN has been around for years A portable SSD atop a desktop PC.Credit: Ismar Hrnjicevic / How-To Geek Wake-on-LAN, or WoL, sounds like some fancy new tech, and I suppose that's how I presented it, but it isn't new at all. It's been around for decades. This is a networking feature that lets you wake up a compatible PC remotely by sending it a special network message called a "magic packet." Sounds pretty neat, right? This "magic packet" contains your network adapter's MAC address, which is basically a unique identifier for that particular adapter. When your PC receives the right packet, it knows it's time to wake up and get to work. The best part? You can send that packet straight from your smartphone without buying any extra hardware. In these rough times of the RAM-pocalypse, we love that. The obvious question is: How does your PC receive any packets, even supposedly magic ones, if it's asleep? Well, that's the clever part. On supported systems, the network adapter can remain partially powered even when most of the PC isn't doing anything, allowing it to listen closely for that magic packet to come through. This is especially handy if you want to wake your gaming PC before sitting down at the desk, or get your home server running before accessing it. And the best part is perhaps that using Wake-on-LAN within your home network doesn't force you to expose your router to the internet. Your motherboard and network adapter need to support it A wired connection makes the whole thing much easier If you want to make the magic happen (literally, in this case), you have to start by checking whether your hardware actually supports WoL. I guess even magic has its limits. Fortunately, many desktop motherboards and Ethernet adapters do, but it's worth double-checking before you set off on a mini journey of trying to make this happen. The easiest way to get this working is through a wired Ethernet connection (my favorite), because Wake-on-WLAN, which is the Wi-Fi equivalent, is much less widely supported. Once you have that Ethernet cable, head into your motherboard's BIOS/UEFI and look for a setting called Wake on LAN, Power On By PCI-E, Resume By PCI-E, or something along those lines. The exact name varies depending on your motherboard, but the idea is the same: You need to allow your network adapter to wake the PC. You might also need to disable ErP, a power-saving feature that can cut standby power to your network adapter. Windows needs permission to wake your PC A couple of Device Manager settings can make all the difference If you're on Windows, BIOS is only half the battle; Windows needs to give you its blessing for this, too. Fortunately, that shouldn't take long. To enable WoL, right-click the Start button, open Device Manager, expand Network adapters, and find your Ethernet controller. Next, right-click it, then select Properties. Head to the Advanced tab. In there, look for a setting called Wake on Magic Packet and make sure it's enabled. Switch to the Power Management tab and check Allow this device to wake the computer. If there's an option called Only allow a magic packet to wake the computer, enable that, too, so random network activity doesn't shake your PC awake for no reason. Lastly, open Command Prompt, type ipconfig /all, and find your Ethernet adapter's physical address. That's its MAC address, and you'll need it for the next step. A free phone app is all you need to make the magic happen One tap sends a packet, and your PC wakes up Now for the fun part (I guess). All you need is a free Wake-on-LAN app on your phone, such as Wake On LAN on Android, or Wake Me Up on iPhone. Connect your phone to the same local network as your PC, open the app, and add your computer as a new device. Give it a name, enter the Ethernet adapter's MAC address (this is exactly why we had to find it), and fill in any other required details, such as the broadcast address or UDP port (usually 9). Once everything is configured, put your PC to sleep, grab your phone, and send that magic packet out into the universe. There's one catch: sleeping and shutting down aren't the same thing Before you start using WoL all the time, keep in mind that the thing works best when your PC is indeed asleep. Waking it from a full shutdown is a different story. Some mobos and adapters support this, but others don't, so don't assume it'll work—test it first.