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Typically, most of us turn off our Windows computers using Start > Power, but by using PowerShell, many more options are available to you.
Using the command line, we can schedule a shutdown or restart, make notes, go to advanced boot options, do a full shutdown, shut down or restart a remote computer, and more.
Open the Windows PowerShell
Right click on the Windows Start icon then select Windows PowerShell. In Windows 11, select Terminal or Windows Terminal.
![Pw1](https://bonguides-1e199.kxcdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/pw1.png)
The command you need to know is shutdown followed by a command or argument. Go ahead and type in shutdown now to see a list of available commands.
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Restart or Shut Down your computer using PowerShell
1. Restart your computer using the following PowerShell command.
shutdown /r
![Bg2168](https://bonguides-1e199.kxcdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/bg2168-1024x511.png)
2. Shut down or turn off your computer using PowerShell.
shutdown /s
Optionally, if you want to try it out now, type in a shutdown command, close the one-minute warning window, and type in . A window will popup letting you know that it was canceled.
shutdown /a
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Schedule shut down or restart computer using PowerShell
You can set the time-out period before shutdown to xxx seconds using switch. The valid range is 0-315360000 (10 years), with a default of 30. The below command will shut down in 10 minutes.
shutdown /r /t 600
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Immediate restart with no countdown
If you want to immediately restart with no countdown or message, use this command:
shutdown /r /t 0
Go to the advanced boot options menu
shutdown /r /o /t 5
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Reference commands
Here is the list of available commands for your reference:
- /? – Display help.
- /i – Display the graphical user interface (GUI).
- /l – Log off. This cannot be used with /m or /d options.
- /s – Shutdown the computer.
- /sg – Shutdown the computer. On the next boot, if Automatic Restart Sign-On is enabled, automatically sign in and lock the last interactive user. After sign in, restart any registered applications.
- /r – Full shutdown and restart the computer.
- /g – Full shutdown and restart the computer. After the system is rebooted, if Automatic Restart Sign-On is enabled, automatically sign in and lock the last interactive user. After sign in, restart any registered applications.
- /a – Abort a system shutdown. This can only be used during the time-out period. Combine with /fw to clear any pending boots to the firmware.
- /p – Turn off the local computer with no time-out or warning. It can be used with /d and /f options.
- /h – Hibernate the local computer. It can be used with the /f option.
- /hybrid – Performs a shutdown of the computer and prepares it for a fast startup. Must be used with /s option.
- /fw – Combine with a shutdown option to cause the next boot to go to the firmware user interface.
- /e – Document the reason for an unexpected shutdown of a computer.
- /o – Go to the advanced boot options menu and restart the computer. Must be used with /r option.
- /m computer – Specify the target computer
- /t xxx – Set the time-out period before shutdown to xxx seconds. The valid range is 0-315360000 (10 years), with a default of 30. If the time-out period is greater than 0, the /f parameter is implied.
- /c – “comment” Comment on the reason for the restart or shutdown. A maximum of 512 characters allowed.
- /f – Force running applications to close without forewarning users. The /f parameter is implied when a value greater than 0 is specified for the /t parameter.
- /d [p|u]xx:yy – Provide the reason for the restart or shutdown. Here are the command explanations:
- p – indicates that the restart or shutdown is planned.
- u – indicates that the reason is user-defined. If neither p or u is specified, the restart or shutdown is unplanned.
- xx – is the major reason number (positive integer less than 256).
- yy – is the minor reason number (positive integer less than 65536).