General Shut Down Computer in Windows 11

This tutorial will show you different ways on how to shut down your Windows 11 computer.

If you don't plan to use your PC for a while, then you could shut down (turn off) the PC to save energy.

A shut down closes all apps, signs out all users, and turn your PC off completely.

When shutting down your PC, any open supported apps are registered for application restart. After restart, these apps will re-open automatically when you sign in.

Microsoft is improving the restarting and shutting down your PC experience by clearly separating power actions from update actions. With this change, the Power menu will always show the standard Restart and Shut down options, meaning you will always have a choice to just restart or shut down your device without having to install the pending update. At the same time, update‑specific choices like Update and restart and Update and shut down will still be available when applicable. This gives you four clear options—and full control over what your device does next. If you choose Restart or Shut down, Windows will perform exactly that action, without unexpectedly starting an update. If you’re ready to install updates, you can explicitly choose one of the update options. After a restart, Windows will attempt to restore previously opened applications faster, allowing users to return more easily to what they were working on. This change is about is about making the Power menu more predictable, so when you need a quick restart or want to power off before heading out, Windows does exactly what you expect.

The feature to restore applications that have registered for application restart after you restart or shutdown has been set to only occur for users that have turned on (default) Automatically save my restartable apps and restart them when I sign back in.

EXAMPLE: Computer "Shutting down"

This option is only available for laptops with a lid to close.

This option requires you to set the default lid close action to Shut down.

1 Close the laptop lid to perform the default lid close action.





1 Perform one of the following actions: (see screenshots below)

• Press the Power button on your device.
  

  This requires you to set the default power button action to Shut down.

• Press and hold the Power button on your device until it powers off to force a hard shut down.
  

  A hard shut down should only be used as a last resort when you are unable to shut down using any other option. For example, if your computer becomes unresponsive.

1 Open the Start menu . (see screenshot below)

2 Click/tap on the Power button.

3 Click/tap on Shut down in the Power menu.







1 Perform one of the following actions: (see screenshot below)

• Press the Win + X keys, press the U key, and press the U key.
• Open the Win+X Quick Link menu, click/tap on Shut down or sign out, and click/tap on Shut down.

1 Click/tap on the desktop (Win+D) to make it the current focused (active) window.

2 Press the Alt + F4 keys.

This will only work if you did step 1. Otherwise, it will close the current active window instead of the desktop.

3 Select Shut down in the drop menu, and click/tap on OK or press Enter. (see screenshot below)







1 Press the Ctrl + Alt + Del keys.

2 Click/tap on the Power button.

3 Click/tap on Shut down in the Power menu.







1 While on the Sign-in screen: (see screenshot below)

2 Click/tap on the Power button.

3 Click/tap on Shut down in the Power menu.







1 Run (Win+R) SlideToShutDown.exe.

2 Perform one of the following actions: (see screenshot below)

• Slide/drag the "Slide to shut down your PC" screen to the bottom of the screen.
• Press Enter while on the "Slide to shut down your PC" screen.
• Click/tap on the "Slide to shut down your PC" screen.

You can slide/drag the "Slide to shut down your PC" screen to the top of the screen to cancel the shutdown.

To see more shutdown command usage details, see: shutdown | Microsoft Docs.

1 Open Windows Terminal, and select either Windows PowerShell or Command Prompt.

2 Type the command below you want to use into Windows Terminal, and press Enter.

shutdown /p

Performs a full shutdown by turning off the local computer with no time-out or warning. Shutdown will stop if there are any unsaved jobs, and will then prompt if you want to save on the desktop.

OR

shutdown /p /f

Forces running apps to close, and turns off the local computer with no time-out or warning.

OR

shutdown /s

Performs a full shutdown of the computer.

OR

shutdown /sg

Performs a full shutdown of the computer. On the next boot, restart any registered applications.

OR

shutdown /s /f /t 0

Immediately force running apps to close, and then performs a full shutdown of the computer.

OR

shutdown /s /t xxx

Performs a full shutdown of the computer after a timeout period you specified in seconds.

Substitute xxx in the command above with between 0-315360000 seconds you want for the timeout period. If the timeout period is greater than 0, the /f (force) parameter is implied.

OR

shutdown /s /c "Your comment here"

Displays a warning with your comment, and performs a full shutdown of the computer.

Substitute Your comment here in the command above with the comment you want up to 512 characters.

OR

shutdown /s /t xxx /c "Your comment here"

Displays a warning notice with your comment, and performs a full shutdown of the computer after a timeout period you specified in seconds.

Substitute Your comment here in the command above with the comment you want up to 512 characters.

Substitute xxx in the command above with between 0-315360000 seconds you want for the timeout period. If the timeout period is greater than 0, the /f (force) parameter is implied.

To see more Stop-Computer command usage details, see: Stop-Computer | Microsoft Docs.

1 Open Windows Terminal, and select Windows PowerShell.

2 Type the command below you want to use into Windows PowerShell, and press Enter.

stop-computer

Performs a full shutdown of the computer.

OR

stop-computer -force

Forces running apps to close, and then performs a full shutdown of the computer.

OR

stop-computer -confirm

Prompts you to confirm before performing a full shutdown of the computer.

OR

stop-computer -force -confirm

Prompts you to confirm before forces running apps to close, and then performs a full shutdown of the computer.

1 Open the Game Bar (+G).

2 Click/tap on the Settings (gear) icon on the Home Bar. (see screenshot below)

3 Click/tap on Power in Settings.

4 Click/tap on Shut down in the Power menu.




That's it,
Shawn Brink