How to Shut Down or Restart a Windows 11 Computer

What you need: A Windows 11 computer.

Before you begin: Save your work and close your documents. Shut down turns the computer off until you turn it on again. Restart turns the computer off and brings Windows back automatically.

Steps

1. Click Start (the Windows logo) on the taskbar at the bottom of the screen.
2. Click Power (the circle with a short line at the top) near the bottom-right of the Start menu.
3. Click Shut down to turn the computer off, or click Restart to turn it off and start it again. If the option says Update and shut down or Update and restart, click that; Windows will finish the updates before it turns off or as it restarts.
4. Leave the computer connected to power and wait. Let Windows finish without pressing the computer's power button. If you chose an update option, a message about working on updates may appear, and the screen may go dark more than once. After Shut down, the screen goes dark and the computer stays off. After Restart, the screen goes dark and then Windows starts again.
5. If you chose Restart and you see a large clock and a picture, click anywhere on the screen. If the sign-in screen appears, sign in as you normally do.

Expected result: After Shut down, the computer has turned off. After Restart, Windows has started again, and you can see your desktop.