Window 10 - How to Shut Down, Restart, and Sleep [Turn Off Computer]

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8 ways to shut down or restart a Windows 10 computer or device

Tutorial by Jerome Mapile published on 09/09/2018

So, you've had enough of Windows 10 already? Well, probably not, but you need to turn off your computer or tablet, and do some other things every once in awhile. Or maybe you just need to get to a fresh start after installing some new software, or you need to pack up your computer or device to take it with you. No matter the reason, we'll show you eight different ways you can shut down or restart your Windows 10 device. Don't worry, the number of options doesn't mean that this is a tricky task, there are some simple ways to shut down Windows 10. Let's see them:

1. Shut down or restart using the Start Menu

The simplest and most basic method of closing down Windows 10 is by using the Start Menu, which is the default option in the latest Microsoft operating system. To do this, first, open the Start Menu by clicking the Windows button on the bottom left corner of the screen.

Then, click or tap Power.

Three options appear: choose Restart to reboot the device, Shut down to shut it down completely or Sleep to put it into sleep mode.

If the Start Menu is set to fullscreen mode, or if you're using Windows 10 in tablet mode, things will look a bit different, but you’ll still need to tap the same Start button to access the Start Menu and open its Power sub-menu.

2. Shut down or restart using the WinX menu

You can also access the power user menu, also known as the WinX menu, by pressing the Windows + X keys on your keyboard, or by right-clicking (long pressing) on the Windows button from the bottom-left corner of your desktop.

In the WinX menu, press “Shut down or sign out” to access shutdown, restart, sleep, and sign out.

3. Shut down or restart using “ALT + F4”

Whenever you are on the desktop, you can press the ALT + F4 keys on your keyboard to open the shutdown menu.

In the Shut Down Windows dialog window, you can open the drop-down list to choose whether to shut down, restart or put the device to sleep.

You can also log out from your user profile or switch to a different one. Select the option you want, and click or tap OK to confirm it.

4. Shut down or restart using the "shutdown" command

If you like using command line interfaces for everything you do, you can also use Command Prompt to close Windows 10. Open a Command Prompt window, type the command “shutdown /s” (without quotation marks) and press Enter on your keyboard to shut down your device.

In a couple of seconds, Windows 10 will shut down. What’s interesting about this command is that the operating system tells you that it is going to “shut down in less than a minute.”

If you prefer using PowerShell instead of Command Prompt, you can also use it to run the same command: “shutdown /s.”

Finally, you can also issue this command from the Run window. Press the Win + R keys on your keyboard to open it, then type the “shutdown /s” command and press Enter to shut down your device.

To restart the machine, replace shutdown /s with shutdown /r. To learn about all the available parameters for this command just type shutdown in Command Prompt or PowerShell.

5. Shut down or restart from the lock screen

You can also shut down your device from the lock screen: you can see this screen before logging into Windows 10, or if you sign out or lock your device. On it, press the I/O icon from the bottom-right corner to access the shut down, restart and sleep options.

6. Shut down or restart from the “Control + Alt + Delete” screen

If you use a Windows 10 PC with a keyboard, you can use the “Control + Alt + Delete” screen to access the power options. Simultaneously press the Control, Alt and Delete keys on your keyboard and then click or tap on the I/O button from the bottom-right corner of the screen.

The usual menu with Sleep, Shut down and Restart options will open. Click or tap the one you want.

7. Shut down using the “slidetoshutdown” command

Although the slidetoshutdown command it is not a well-known feature of Windows, you can still use it. Just open the Command Prompt, a PowerShell or a Run window, and type slidetoshutdown. Then press enter or click OK.

This will drop in your lock screen image from the top, that will cover half of your screen. Slide the picture to the bottom of your screen with your mouse (or your finger if you’re using a touchscreen) to shut down your Windows 10 device. To cancel the shutdown, press any key or slide the image upwards.

You can also create a shortcut to the slidetoshutdown.exe application if you like this method.

8. Shut down using the power button on the device

If you're running Windows 10 on a device with a touchscreen, such as a smartphone, or a tablet, there is another, faster way you can shut it down. First, you need to long press your device's power button (the on/off button), which will drop your lock screen, in a way very similar to the “slidetoshutdown” command. Now you just need to slide the screen down to shut down the device.

Conclusion

If for some reason, you want to shut down or restart your Windows 10 device, the operating system gives you quite some ways to do it. Of course, this is a simple task, so there's no reason to over complicate it if there's no need. Having trouble shutting down or restarting your Windows 10 computer? Let us know in the comments. Maybe we can help.