When you finish working on your Windows 10 computer, you will probably want to turn it off. Windows 10 gives you a lot of choices for how to do that. While this isn’t hard at all, it’s good to know the different ways you can shut down your Windows 10 laptop, desktop PC, or tablet. Here are nine methods that you to use to to power off Windows 10, so check them out and pick the one that suits you best:
How to shut down a Windows 10 laptop or PC from the Start Menu
If the Start Menu is set to fullscreen mode, or if you’re using Windows 10 in tablet mode, things look a bit different, but you still need to tap the same Start button to access the Start Menu and open its Power sub-menu.
How to shut down Windows 10 from the Start screen
TIP: If having the Start Menu show up on the entire screen sounds interesting, here’s how to set the Windows 10 Start Menu to take up the whole screen.
How to shut down Windows 10 from the WinX menu
Turn off Windows 10 from the Shut Down Windows dialog window
TIP: In the Shut Down Windows dialog window, you can also open the drop-down list to choose other actions instead of Shut down, like restarting or putting your Windows 10 laptop/PC 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.
How to shut down Windows 10 using the shutdown command
After a short while, your Windows 10 computer shuts down. Until it does, the operating system will display a window telling you that it’s going to “[...] shut down in less than a minute.”
Shut down warning issued by the shutdown command
Note that closing the message window won’t stop your Windows 10 PC from shutting down.
How to shut down Windows 10 using the Stop-Computer cmdlet in PowerShell
TIP: You can also run this command in Windows Terminal, in a PowerShell tab.
How to shut down Windows 10 using the slidetoshutdown command
The command makes Windows 10 drop in your lock screen image from the top, roughly covering 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.
Slide to shut down your PC in Windows 10
TIP: You can also create a shortcut to the slidetoshutdown.exe application if you like this method.
How to shut down Windows 10 from the lock screen
How to shut down Windows 10 from the Control + Alt + Delete screen
Press and hold the power button on a touchscreen device with Windows 10
Now, you need to slide the screen down to shut down the device.
Slide to shut down your PC in Windows 10
NOTE: If you want to configure the behavior of the power button for your Windows 10 devices, read How to change what the Power or Shut Down button does when you press it.
The Shut Down Windows shortcut we made
Immediate action in Simple Shutdown Scheduler
For more details on this app, read this article: Set your Windows PC to turn off or restart at a certain time with Simple Shutdown Scheduler.
1. How to shut down a laptop or desktop PC running Windows 10 using its Start Menu
The simplest and most basic method of closing down Windows 10 is by using the Start Menu, which is also the standard option in this operating system: Open the Start Menu by clicking or tapping the Windows button in the bottom-left corner of the screen. Then, click or tap the Power button. From the options that appear, choose Shut down to shut the device down totally.2. How to shut down Windows 10 using the WinX menu
You can also access the power user menu, also known as the WinX menu, with the Windows + X keyboard shortcut. Alternatively, you can right-click (press and hold) the Windows button from the bottom-left corner of your desktop. In the WinX menu, hover, click, or tap the “Shut down or sign out” option. Then, select Shut down in the sub-menu, and Windows 10 will turn off your computer.3. How to shut down Windows 10 with your keyboard using Alt + F4
Whenever the focus in Windows 10 is on the desktop, you can use the Alt + F4 shutdown shortcut to open the Shut Down Windows menu and turn off your laptop or desktop PC. The fastest way to achieve this is to press these keys:
Win + D
Alt + F4
Enter
4. How to shut down Windows 10 from the command line
If you like using command line interfaces for everything you do, you can also use Command Prompt or PowerShell to close Windows 10. Moreover, some of the following commands can also be executed from a Run window.4.1. How to shut down Windows 10 with the shutdown command
Open a Command Prompt, PowerShell, or Run window, and type this command:shutdown /s
Then press Enter on your keyboard to shut down your Windows 10 laptop or desktop PC.
4.2. How to shut down Windows 10 using the Stop-Computer command in PowerShell
PowerShell has its own commands, also known as cmdlets. These commands can be run only in PowerShell: they don’t work in Command Prompt or in the Run window. One such command is:Stop-Computer
Run it in PowerShell, and your Windows 10 system will immediately shut down, no further questions asked.
4.3. How to shut down Windows 10 using the slidetoshutdown command
Although the slidetoshutdown command is not a well-known feature of Windows, you can still use it. Open the Command Prompt, PowerShell, or a Run window, and run:slidetoshutdown
5. How to shut down Windows 10 from the lock screen
You can also shut down your device from the sign-in or lock screen. You get to 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, and then click or tap on Shut down.6. How to shut down Windows 10 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 opens with options for Sleep, Shut down, and Restart. Click or tap on Shut down.7. How to shut down Windows 10 using the power button
If you’re running Windows 10 on a device with a touchscreen, such as a laptop or a tablet, there is another, faster way to shut it down. First, you need to press and hold your device’s power button (the on/off button), which drops your lock screen in a way similar to the slidetoshutdown command.8. How to turn off a Windows 10 computer using a shutdown shortcut
Maybe the fastest possible way to turn off your laptop or desktop PC is to use our Shut Down Windows shortcut, which lets you shut down or restart in a few seconds. It’s a shortcut that we have created for you, and it works on any Windows computer, whether you have Windows 10 or Windows 11. Here is how to download and use it: Download the shortcut for “Shut Down Windows”.9. How to shut down Windows 10 with the Simple Shutdown Scheduler app
You can also download and install a small and capable app called Simple Shutdown Scheduler. You may need to install the additional Windows 10 feature .NET Framework 3.5 for the app to work. Besides the scheduling function, you can use it to shut down or restart Windows 10 right away. Open the app, and from the default tab named General, open the drop-down menu Immediate action. Select the desired action and press the Go button next to it.
Discussion (54)
Forgot to tell u about The Harddisk Security blue box screen that ever since the trouble startedthat is what recently shows up now n thats frustrating too.thanx have a nice day
Carmen
Im having trouble with Windows working properly as 24cdays ago it started acting up while i was on that day in windows security settings right now i !m using my samsung ph connected to my pc via usb cable.trying to follow what im reading here but its getting hard on the eyes
Left computer on and just closed my computer top . When I opened up my computer there was no screen opening . Can’t get it to open up now
Shutting down is written on the screen again and same thing is coming and no other key is working
My desktop PC running W10 was shutdown unintentionally by a power outage. When I attempt to start it now, the monitor displays a “No signal” error message. In addition, the audio chimes that accompany a successful start-up do not occur. I think that the lack of visual (and perhaps audio output is secondary to failure to boot up properly. Without video,
, it’s hard to perform diagnostics (or anything else). If an improper shutdown led to the problem, maybe a proper shutdown would lead to a normal boot-up. I tried Cntl-Alt-Del, but this did notl ead to any shutdown, even when I input the key combination muliple times in succession. I did get the machine to shutdown using prolonged depression of the power button, but when I powered up afterward there was still no video output nor any audible. Feel stuck!
I can boot the computer and get to a command prompt — but can’t get Windows to boot up. Need to know how to start Windows from the command prompt.
Good day to you
I couldn’t find any way to shutdown my laptop – windows 10 even I followed the above instructions.hope you will help me in this regard.
Friday, 23 November 2018
I have Windows 10 on my HCL Laptop. I downloaded Visual Studio 15 (Community Version) two days ago.
Now my laptop starts booting but the Power is going off after sometime.
All my attempts to Reset it have failed since the power is going off before the booting completes.
Please help in restoring Windows 10
None of these work if my screen has gone black…
That’s because you have a system or hardware issue.
Nothing worked for my Lenovo laptop. I was not able to open my start menu, use any of the icons in the task bar, use the search bar, nothing. I had to unplug the laptop and let the battery died in order to shut it down.
Actually sir I could not able to shut down my laptop right now, when I pressed the power button it is showing shutting down and buffering with a blue background screen. What should I do?
You’re shutdown list is really helpful.thanks.
I was working on a word document for an email I was about to send, which I copied. But before I saved it as a document I went to paste it into an email. But immediately after pasting it in, my cursor stopped moving. I cannot click send or anything else! I’ve opened the mouse removed and put back the battery, turned it on and off, but nothing gets the cursor moving so I have no control over the screen. I tried control alt delete and nothing happened. Same with escape. I’m afraid to hold down the power button because I might lose the unsaved documents as well as the unsent emails. Surprisingly, none of your eight suggestions work except that last one. Will I lose my work if I power it down by holding the power button down?
Yes, your unsaved files/modifications will be lost when you shut down the computer.
Thank you so much for this article
You are welcome. 😉
Thank you so much!!!!
Hi, I have a problem where everytime I shutdown my computer running Windows 10 it instantly restarts. In order to get it to shutdown I have to unplug it completely and let drain itself of its battery, but even then as soon as I plug it in again it starts up without me pressing the On button.
Can you help me with this ?
Thanks in advance !
Julien
In the early days of Windows 10 you could hit ‘Windows Key’ then ‘Up’ ‘Up’ ‘Enter’ ‘Enter’ to shut down ur computer quickly without bothering with any mouse.
I’ve been struggling since they removed that. But the ‘Alt’ + ‘F4’ Alternative seems to work beautifully. Thx for that ^^
my laptop(windows 10). Power button has not working damage also …so i want any shorcut keys for swith on the laptap please help sir
Thanks, my taskbar on Windows 10 had stopped working and, somehow, restarting via number 3, repaired it.
What if, I tried all of this and none of them worked? ?
There is something seriously wrong with your computer.
Since installing fall creators update windows 10 won’t shut down except by the power button. It goes to a blank screen the circling dots start, below them it says shutting down but goes into a continues loop and have to use the power button to shut down. The reset button just restarts it but sometimes shuts down right after that.
My window 10 laptop wont allow me to shut it down… The power button on the screen is now a light gray and it wont allow me to click it. Also the password bar is a light gray and I cant click it. In conclusion I fant sign in, shut it down, or even restart it.
used a program that was not compatible with windows 10 and all your tricks are blocked so what now
Uninstall that program?
easiest way, pretend there was a power failure, unplug pc and start over!
my mouse isnt working, and i want to restart my computer with just the keyboard. how do i do that?
I was on an HP Envy when my mouse froze. Option #8 finally worked.
Windows 10. Customer tried to reset password without having a reset disc. Can’t log in – don’t have the password. Lock screen does not have a power icon. Power button puts machine to sleep – does not go through POST when woken, so can’t boot from optical drive. ^AltDel does nothing. Laptop has no reset button. …Power button sleep, unplugged, removed battery for 10 min. Boot Acer Aspire – F2 interspersed with Esc at Acer “QuietBoot” splash screen DID get me into the BIOS… Is there a better way?
I think the screen on my laptop is not working … so i want to restart laptop or just turn it of . Is there any way i can turn it of by using keyboard . Please help me . Thanks ?
Computer turns on to the sign in page; let’s me sign in. It will sometimes show the icons on the screen page but they don’t stay long. The pc had updates to my HP windows 10 and after a 8 hour period of starting over many times, I shut the pc off and it began this routine. My pc was running fine prior to this.
When win hanged or locked or mouse is not visible, how to shut down?
I knew the first one but I didn’t know the rest of the so thank you so much
Hi,
My laptop are not responding quite often. I only can long press the switch on button. But this will easily damage my hardware. Need your advice y my device always hang while I’m working. Using ASUS A456U.
Thank you very much.
The apps don’t always completely shut down, causing me to force a shut down. How do I avoid dong this?
I was stuck, screen not moving,
I am on an HP that has NO POWERBUTTON on the keyboard! How do I force it off. .
To add to the power menu option: the alternative way to pop out the menu (Win+X), for the case when for example you run or access (RDP) win10 from a Mac: is right-click on the Start button.
I have a Dell Windows 10 Latitude that is showing the following message: “Your PC ran into a problem and needs to restart. We’er just collecting some error info, and then you can restart. (100% complete)”
The problem I am having is the screen is entire screen is blue with the white letters of the message above in the center so I can’t get to ANY icons to restart it therefore I will have to restart it from the key board but so far all the key board functions have failed. I am unable to pull up any options at all to click to shut it down. I have tried holding the power switch and shutting it down but when it comes back up it comes back to this same message and blue screen. I’m thinking it is going to have to be rebooted/restarted for it to start correctly since shutting it down has not worked at all. I’m not familiar with how to reboot it by using the key board but so far, all the options given that I have tried have not restarted it. Any help with this will be very much appreciated…Thanks, Ken
None of those worked for me. For some reason my screen was black but responsive, and I could move my mouse so my computer wasn’t frozen, I just couldn’t right-click, access the start menu (even after pressing the windows key, etc), and CTRL-Escape didn’t work, alt-f4 didn’t work, the only thing that worked was CTRL-Shift-Delete, which pulled up the (hideous) red lock screen page for Windows 10 and on the bottom right there was finally an option to restart/shut down/etc.
I upgraded to Windows 10 Pro 64 bit a week ago on my desktop. I like the new OS but I cannot make it sleep- it closes down – and it is very “iffy” on boot up. Occasionally boots OK but mostly I have to press the power button a second time, as it switches after the first blue window. It then loads fine.
Whichever way I close my desk top computer down it restarts again after a couple of minutes. I updated from Windows 8.1 to Windows 10 3 days ago and it has done this ever since. Is this some sort of a glitch with W 10. please help I don’t want to have to reinstall W 8.1 again I prefer W 10. Please please help.
Nothing happens when I left click the start up button ,I have to right click and use the x menu
I can shut down but my power button light does not go off. Any suggestions?
Is there anyway to shutdown a Windows 10 Laptop when there is a Black/Blank screen? I.e., all of your options require access to a window displayed on the display.
Did you figure out this issue? I’m having the same problem and nothing I’m finding online is helping. Thanks.
i’ using window 10 , sometimes my laptop shutdown but mostly it does not do so. i thing some program or software hangs on shutdown. please tell me how can i solve this problem. and also tell me if i shutdown window by pressing power button ,it will be damaging ?
None of these options worked for me. This is not the first time my new Win 10 desktop would not shut down. Will be using the power button to do so again. Very annoying.
I made the mistake of upgrading my Sony Vaio to Windows 10. The little window Start button doesn’t react at all when I click on it. I had to resort to just shutting off the computer. The Alt F4 choice worked for me. Thank you for posting these suggestions
Scenarios for which we perhaps need more than the 7…
Over Remote Desktop, there is no Shutdown or Restart option in the Start menu; Ctrl/alt/delete can get you to the lock screen to shutdown, but I’m using bat files on the remote machine’s desktop –
Shutdown -`shutdown.exe /p /f`
Restart – `shutdown.exe /r /f /t 00`
Secondly, I’ve yet to find a way to shutdown a headless machine by using the Power button, if the machine is being remoted to & I need to override, or if it is on the lock screen.
Slightly off topic, but my laptop was stuck in a “restarting” loop & I was unable to quit or restart by any of the 7 ways above as
I was unable to leave the screen. I powered off the laptop with the “OFF” button on the laptop. I then powered on the laptop while at the same time tapping F8 & was able to get back to normal access.
Mary Brady i love you