Simulations of a fluid rotating inside a partially open cylindrical cavity, performed by numerical solution of the unsteady axisymmetric Navier–Stokes equations, are presented. The configuration consists of a cylindrical vessel holding the fluid, which is entrained into motion by a rotating lid. This one is a coaxial disk in contact with the fluid surface but without covering it entirely. The study focuses on the occurrence of time‐dependent flow, more specifically, the first transition to unsteadiness, by considering cavity cases with different amounts of free surface, for a fixed aspect ratio. By following the time evolution of a few arbitrarily chosen dynamical variables as a function of the Reynolds number, the location of this first Hopf bifurcation is obtained for a collection of cavity cases. Results show a rather strong influence of the free surface both on the onset of the unsteadiness and on the dynamical features of the flow. ©1996 American Institute of Physics.