One of the features in Windows which takes time to adjust to is the well-concealed shut down and restart option. Luckily, you can avoid the multi-click charms bar with a keyboard shortcut.
If you aren’t fond of having to perform a mouse or touch gesture and multiple clicks just to restart your computer, there’s an old keyboard command you could employ to save yourself the trouble. Simply use Windows-D to head to the desktop, then Alt-F4. That will bring up a dialog with your shutdown options.
Though this shortcut has been around for years, it’s never been more useful than it is now. If you’re having a hard time getting around Windows 8’s UI, check out our guide to the most useful keyboard shortcuts.
Comments
13 responses to “Shut Down Windows 8 With A Keyboard Shortcut”
Maybe the only one but I love Windows 8
“One of the features in Windows […] is the well-concealed shut down and restart”
Yeahhh… I don’t consider this a ‘feature’ at all, but an inconvenience. I shouldn’t need to do a charms gesture > slide down to settings > power > sleep. It’s clumsy as hell on desktop and was obviously designed firstly for tablets with a power/wake button within reach.
Nobody considers it a feature, it was sarcasm
I just use the command shutdown.exe /t 0 /s and have a shortcut on the desktop. I also have a reboot shortcut.
Yup… I’ve been using a couple of icons in the taskbar since Windows 95, here’s a quick howto from Win 7 that works on most versions inc 8. You can even add the icons to the Metro page easily You can find suitable icons here It’s easy…. 🙂
Heads up! This comment is awaiting moderation. Check back soon! WHY..?? The comment was placed at 9:30 am it’s now after lunch…??
On Windows 8.1 – right-click the Start button -> “Shut down or sign out” -> “Shut down”.
“Though this shortcut has been around for years, it’s never been more useful than it is now. ”
Not sure about that… I use those shortcuts all the time and find them very useful.
I find it funny that this hadn’t crossed my mind.
I’d taken to Win+R shutdown /s /t 0 or hitting the power button.
Will probably use this now.
Haha, I can’t believe you persisted with such a long-winded solution as that command line without realising the good old ALT-F4 combo.
I am actually surprised this warranted having an entire article written about it. Who doesn’t know about ALT-F4? What’s next Ctrl-Alt-Del?
Hasn’t this been a feature since Win 95?
Yes. The existence of this article is slightly bewildering.
I’ve been using a skin in Rainmeter (Gnometer/System) which has some convenient and subtle buttons for shutdown, restart, hibernate and log-out.
I just set the physical power button to Shut Down. One button, one press is all it takes.