Switch is on

The Switch is on condition is useful when an automation should continue only if a switch is already activated. Use it to avoid duplicate actions, confirm a power plug is supplying power before doing something else, or branch your automation based on whether a switch is currently in use.

Using this condition from the user interface

If you prefer building automations visually, Home Assistant walks you through this condition step by step. You pick what to check, tweak a few options, and save. No YAML knowledge required.

To use this condition in an automation:

1. Go to Settings > Automations & scenes.
2. Open an existing automation, or select Create automation > Create new automation.
3. In the And if section, select Add condition.
4. Select what you want to check. Under By target (see Targets), pick the switch you want to check. You can also select an area, a floor, a device, or a label.
5. From the conditions shown for that target, select Switch is on.
6. Under Condition passes if (see Behavior), pick Any or All.
7. Under For at least, set how long the switch must have been on.
8. Select Save.

Options in the UI

Using this condition in YAML

If you work directly in YAML, or you want to know exactly what Home Assistant does under the hood, this section has the technical reference. It lists the field names you use in YAML, their types, and which ones are required.

In YAML, refer to this condition as switch.is_on. A basic example looks like this:

condition: switch.is_on
target:
  entity_id: switch.coffee_machine

This passes when switch.coffee_machine is on.

Options in YAML

Targets of the condition

This condition requires a target. The target is the object that Home Assistant will check. You can point the condition at a single entityAn entity represents a sensor, actor, or function in Home Assistant. Entities are used to monitor physical properties or to control other entities. An entity is usually part of a device or a service. [Learn more], a device, an area, a floor, or a label, and Home Assistant will evaluate every matching switch entity behind that target.

• Entity: one specific switch entity, such as switch.living_room.
• Device: every switch entity that belongs to a device.
• Area: every switch entity in a room or area.
• Floor: every switch entity on a floor.
• Label: every switch entity that shares a label.

You can also select different target types in one condition. For example, you can add a specific entity and an area as targets in the same condition to check both of them at once.

Behavior with multiple targets

When you target more than one entity (or select an area, floor, or label that contains several), the Condition passes if option controls how the results combine:

• Any (default): the condition passes if at least one of the targeted entities matches. For example, if you check three smoke sensors and only one of them detects smoke, the condition still passes. This is useful for questions like “is there smoke anywhere in the house?”
• All: the condition passes only when every targeted entity matches. For example, if you check the same three smoke sensors, the condition passes only once all three report cleared. This is useful for “is the entire house safe now?” checks, so your automation does not send an all-clear while one room still has a reading.

Good to know

• A switch in the unknown or unavailable state does not count as on.
• With All, every targeted switch must match. With Any, one matching switch is enough.
• To check for the opposite state, use Switch is off.

Try it yourself

Ready to test this? Go to Settings > Automations & scenes, open an automation, and add this condition. Trigger the automation with and without the condition met, and watch whether it continues or stops.

More examples

Real scenarios where this condition gates an automation. Copy any example and adapt it to your setup.

Automation: warn when leaving home with the iron still on

When you leave home, this automation checks whether the iron’s power plug is still on and sends a notification so you can switch it off remotely.

• Trigger: State: Person leaves home
• Condition: Switch is on
  • Target: Iron power plug
• Action: Send a notification message
  • Target: My Device (notify.my_device)

alias: "Warn if iron is still on when leaving home"
triggers:
  - trigger: state
    entity_id: person.me
    from: "home"
conditions:
  - condition: switch.is_on
    target:
      entity_id: switch.iron_power_plug
actions:
  - action: notify.send_message
    target:
      entity_id: notify.my_device
    data:
      message: "The iron is still on. Tap to turn it off."

Still stuck?

The Home Assistant community is quick to help: join Discord for real-time chat, post on the community forum with the condition you’re using and what you expected to happen, or share on our subreddit /r/homeassistant.

Related conditions

These conditions work well alongside this one:

• Switch is off: Tests if one or more switches are off.