WD My Cloud Home – What Happens After December 2027 (Web Access & Plex)?

Many users of Western Digital (WD) My Cloud devices—especially home and small business users—look for ways to reduce energy consumption or wear and tear by powering down the device overnight. The idea is simple: why keep a NAS running 24/7 when it's not being accessed during certain hours? Naturally, this leads to the question: Can My Cloud automatically power off at night and restart in the morning?

Native My Cloud Does Not Support Scheduled Power On/Off

Unfortunately, WD My Cloud devices do not support scheduled power-off or power-on functionality out of the box. Unlike some advanced enterprise-grade NAS systems (like Synology or QNAP), WD My Cloud models (including My Cloud Home, EX2 Ultra, and older single-bay units) lack BIOS-level or firmware-level power scheduling features.

There’s no official WD interface setting to let you automate nightly shutdowns or timed power-ons.

Workarounds You Can Consider

Even though it's not a native feature, there are a few workarounds that might help achieve a similar result:

1. Use a Smart Plug

A Wi-Fi smart plug allows you to cut power to your My Cloud device on a schedule.

Pros: You can schedule power-off and power-on times via an app.

Cons: Abruptly cutting power is risky. It can cause file system corruption, especially if the device is writing data at the time.

Tip: Only use this method if you’re sure the My Cloud is idle, and avoid during backups or transfers.

2. SSH + Cron Jobs (Advanced Users)

If you have a My Cloud model that supports SSH access (like EX2 Ultra or PR2100), you can log into the device and configure cron jobs to shut down at a specific time:

However, powering the device back on automatically is not possible via software, since that requires BIOS-level Wake-on-LAN or RTC (Real-Time Clock) support, which My Cloud doesn’t offer.

⚠️ Once shut down, you must manually press the power button or reboot via power cycle.

3. Wake-on-LAN (WOL)?

Some users wonder if Wake-on-LAN can help. The reality is: WD My Cloud does not support WOL. Once it’s powered off, the network interface does not stay active to receive WOL packets.

Power Saving Alternatives

Instead of full shutdowns, consider these alternatives:

Enable drive sleep: WD My Cloud devices do have a drive sleep/standby mode that spins down the hard drive when idle.

Use Energy Star settings on your router or switch: To reduce network activity waking the NAS.

Limit scheduled backups or remote access during night hours to reduce unnecessary wakeups.

Conclusion

While you can’t directly schedule a WD My Cloud to power off at night and turn on in the morning, creative alternatives like smart plugs and cron jobs might help—though each comes with risk and limitations. For true scheduled power management, a more advanced NAS system may be necessary. If energy efficiency and automation are top priorities, consider upgrading to a model that supports scheduled power features natively.