Lock, Log off, Restart, Shut Down, Switch User - Windows 8

How to Lock, Hibernate, Restart, Shut Down, Sign out, Sleep, and Switch User in Windows 8 and 8.1​

   Information

This tutorial will show you the different ways to Hibernate, Lock, Restart, Sign out (Log off), Shut Down, and Switch User in Windows 8, Windows RT, Windows 8.1, and Windows RT 8.1.

   Note

The Windows 8.1 Update released on April 8th 2014 via Windows Update, adds a Power button on the Start screen, and to "Shut down or Sign out" in the WIN+X power user tasks menu.

OPTION ONE

From User Details on Your Start Screen

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1. While on your Start screen, click/tap on either your user name or picture tile to select the Lock, Sign out (Log off), or switch user option. (see screenshot below)​

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NOTE:If you are not in the Start screen as below, you can press the Windows key CTRL+ESC keys or to go to it. A user to switch to will not be available unless you have already added the user account.​

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OR​

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2. While on your Start screen in Windows 8.1 Update, click/tap on the Power button at the top right to select to Sleep, Hibernate, Shut down or Restart. (see screenshot below)​

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NOTE: To add or remove Sleep and/or Hibernate, see: How to Add or Remove "Sleep" or "Hibernate" from the Power Options Menu in Windows 8​

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OPTION TWO

From CTRL+ALT+DEL Screen

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1. Press the CTRL+ALT+DEL keys. From here you can select to Lock, Switch user, Sign out (Log off), or you could click/tap on the power button at the bottom right corner to select to Sleep, Hibernate, Shut down or Restart.​

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NOTE: To add or remove Sleep and/or Hibernate, see: How to Add or Remove "Sleep" or "Hibernate" from the Power Options Menu in Windows 8​

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OPTION THREE

From "Shut Down Windows" Dialog Box

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1. While on the Desktop (Windows+D), press the ALT+F4 keys. From here, you can select to Switch user, Sign out (Log off), Sleep, Hibernate, Shut down, or Restart.​

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NOTE: This can only be done from on the desktop. It will not work on the Start screen. To add or remove Sleep and/or Hibernate, see: How to Add or Remove "Sleep" or "Hibernate" from the Power Options Menu in Windows 8​

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OPTION FOUR

From "Power" Menu in Settings Charm

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1. Open the Charms bar, and click/tap on Settings.​

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NOTE: You could also just press the Windows+I keys to open Settings in step 2 below.​

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2. Click/tap on the Power button at the bottom right corner in the Settings slide out menu. From here, you can select to Sleep, Hibernate, Shut down or Restart.​

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NOTE: To add or remove Sleep and/or Hibernate, see: How to Add or Remove "Sleep" or "Hibernate" from the Power Options Menu in Windows 8​

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OPTION FIVE

From Sign in Screen

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1. Click/tap on the Power button at the bottom right corner in the Settings slide out menu. From here, you can select to Sleep, Hibernate, Shut down or Restart.​

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NOTE: To add or remove Sleep and/or Hibernate, see: How to Add or Remove "Sleep" or "Hibernate" from the Power Options Menu in Windows 8​

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OPTION SIX

From Task Manager

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1. Open Task Manager, and click/tap on More details.​

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2. Click/tap on the Users tab. From here, you can select a signed in user to Sign out or Switch user. (see screenshot below)​

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NOTE: You must have more than one user signed in for Switch user to be available.​

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3. When finished, you can close Task Manager.​

OPTION SEVEN

From Win+X Power Users Tasks Menu in Windows 8.1

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1. Open the Win+X Power Users Tasks menu, and click on Shut down or press the U key to expand Shut down. (see screenshot below)​

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2. From here, you can select to Sign out, Sleep, Hibernate, Shut down or Restart Windows 8.1.​

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   Note

To add or remove Sleep and/or Hibernate, see: How to Add or Remove "Sleep" or "Hibernate" from the Power Options Menu in Windows 8

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   Note

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If you shut down from the WIN+X menu in Windows 8.1, it will perform a full shut down even if you have Fast Startup turned on.​

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(Windows 8.1)​

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(Windows 8.1 Update)​

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That's it,
Shawn

Related Tutorials

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• How to Add or Remove "Sleep" or "Hibernate" from Power Options Menu in Windows 8 and 8.1
• How to Add or Remove Power Button on Start Screen in Windows 8.1 Update
• How to Add a "Power" Cascading Desktop Context Menu in Windows 8 and 8.1
• How to Add "Restart" Computer to Desktop Context Menu in Windows 8 and 8.1
• How to Create a "Restart" Shortcut in Windows 8 and 8.1
• How to Perform an Emergency Restart in Vista, Windows 7, and Windows 8
• How to Add "Shut Down" Computer to Desktop Context Menu in Windows 8 and 8.1
• How to Create a "Shut Down" Shortcut in Windows 8 and 8.1
• How to Create a "Slide to Shut down" Shortcut in Windows 8.1
• How to Create a "Hybrid Shut Down" Shortcut in Windows 8 and 8.1
• How to Add "Switch User" to Desktop Context Menu in Windows 8 and 8.1
• How to Add or Remove "Switch User" in Windows 8 and 8.1
• How to Add "Lock Computer" to Desktop Context Menu in Windows 8 and 8.1
• How to Add "Lock Computer and Turn Off Monitor" to the Context Menu in Windows
• How to Create a Lock Computer Shortcut in Windows 7 and Windows 8
• How to Change the Lock Screen Timeout Period in Windows 8 and 8.1
• How to Add "Sign out" to the Desktop Context Menu in Windows 8 and 8.1
• How to Turn Fast Startup On or Off for a Hybrid Boot in Windows 8 and 8.1
• How to Allow or Prevent Users and Groups to Shut Down the Computer
• How to Speed Up the Shut Down Time in Windows 7 and Windows 8
• How to Change Default Action of Alt+F4 "Shut Down Windows" Dialog in Windows 8 and 8.1
• How to Enable or Disable to Display Highly Detailed Status Messages in Windows 8 and 8.1
• How to Hide or Show "Sign out" in Windows 8 and 8.1

 

[Brink]

Derek, from where do these last 2 items in the context menu come from. I don't have those.

I use the easy method. When I want to shut down, I shut the vBox down. I find it terrible that we need a tutorial (thank you Shawn) to shut the system down. Where is the progress.

Hello Wolfgang,

You can find them under either "Desktop Context menu", "Restart", and "Shut down" in the Seven Forums tutorial index.

 

[whs]

I know Shawn. That was not my point though. I think it is pathetic that they made is so confusing for a simple operation as shutdown, restart or sleep.

 

[Brink]

Oh, sorry. LOL

Lack of sleep today is starting to get to me. Yeah, they did make it a bit harder by adding a few more clicks to get to them.

 

[gzt7d8]

I have to agree, it is more steps to get to the shut down. I would be nice if we could configure the options under the User icon on the Start menu.

 

[whs]

I now use Win+I - then I have the Power Button. Then it is 2 clicks.

 

[Brink]

I have to agree, it is more steps to get to the shut down. I would be nice if we could configure the options under the User icon on the Start menu.

View attachment 3820

Well, I suppose the next best thing for now if you like is to create any of the shortcuts from here, then pin them to the "Start" screen to make it easy to use them.

 

[Dave76]

One more way to add them to the Taskbar with a new toolbar.

The advantage to this is that you won't have the Shutdown, Restart, etc. button directly on the taskbar, which may be clicked accidentally.
With a new toolbar it's two clicks away.

Similar to derekimo's context menu method posted previously.

This may not be the best way, but will work until a better fix is available.

 

[kado897]

You can also make a shortcut and pin it to the start menu.

For Shutdown use shutdown -s -t 00
For Restart use shutdown -r -t 00

 

[fafhrd]

In the Consumer Preview, the shutdown command has a new option: /o

In combination with the restart switch /r it apparently restarts the computer with advanced boot options menu, so it can save setting this up in Msconfig if you find it difficult to get to at boot-time with F8/Shift-F8.

It would also be possible to create a Desktop or Metro shortcut for [DEL]shutdown /r /o /p[/DEL] shutdown /r /o /t 00 if you are trying to sort out an awkward problem, and need to repeatedly alternate from normal to safe mode boots.

Here is the full shutdown help:

C:\Windows\system32>shutdown
Usage: shutdown [/i | /l | /s | /r | /g | /a | /p | /h | /e | /o] [/hybrid] [/f]


    [/m \\computer][/t xxx][/d [p|u:]xx:yy [/c "comment"]]


    No args    Display help. This is the same as typing /?.
    /?         Display help. This is the same as not typing any options.
    /i         Display the graphical user interface (GUI).
               This must be the first option.
    /l         Log off. This cannot be used with /m or /d options.
    /s         Shutdown the computer.
    /r         Full shutdown and restart the computer.
    /g         Full shutdown and restart the computer. After the system is
               rebooted, restart any registered applications.
    /a         Abort a system shutdown.
               This can only be used during the time-out period.
    /p         Turn off the local computer with no time-out or warning.
               Can be used with /d and /f options.
    /h         Hibernate the local computer.
               Can be used with the /f option.
    /hybrid    Performs a hybrid shutdown of the computer.
               Must be used with /s option.
    /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 timeout period is greater than 0, the /f parameter is
               implied.
    /c "comment" Comment on the reason for the restart or shutdown.
               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.
               p indicates that the restart or shutdown is planned.
               u indicates that the reason is user defined.
               If neither p nor 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).




Reasons on this computer:
(E = Expected U = Unexpected P = planned, C = customer defined)
Type    Major   Minor   Title


 U      0       0       Other (Unplanned)
E       0       0       Other (Unplanned)
E P     0       0       Other (Planned)
 U      0       5       Other Failure: System Unresponsive
E       1       1       Hardware: Maintenance (Unplanned)
E P     1       1       Hardware: Maintenance (Planned)
E       1       2       Hardware: Installation (Unplanned)
E P     1       2       Hardware: Installation (Planned)
E       2       2       Operating System: Recovery (Planned)
E P     2       2       Operating System: Recovery (Planned)
  P     2       3       Operating System: Upgrade (Planned)
E       2       4       Operating System: Reconfiguration (Unplanned)
E P     2       4       Operating System: Reconfiguration (Planned)
  P     2       16      Operating System: Service pack (Planned)
        2       17      Operating System: Hot fix (Unplanned)
  P     2       17      Operating System: Hot fix (Planned)
        2       18      Operating System: Security fix (Unplanned)
  P     2       18      Operating System: Security fix (Planned)
E       4       1       Application: Maintenance (Unplanned)
E P     4       1       Application: Maintenance (Planned)
E P     4       2       Application: Installation (Planned)
E       4       5       Application: Unresponsive
E       4       6       Application: Unstable
 U      5       15      System Failure: Stop error
 U      5       19      Security issue
E       5       19      Security issue
E P     5       19      Security issue
E       5       20      Loss of network connectivity (Unplanned)
 U      6       11      Power Failure: Cord Unplugged
 U      6       12      Power Failure: Environment
  P     7       0       Legacy API shutdown

Another update for the Consumer Preview Control Panel>Power Options>System Settings, Shutdown Settings...

Turn on fast startup (recommended) replaces Turn on hybrid boot (recommended) and some explanatory text has changed:


I would guess that like on a Tablet, the power button is expected to be used to shut down in the way that the user configures, but in most cases, the [DEL]hybrid boot[/DEL] fast startup would be the option for everyday use - and thus a single keypress. Other shutdown options can be configured for the power button if wished. Restarts are programmatically invoked following installations and updates, but are available from the power menu on the charms menu etc if needed for maintenance etc.

In time, even the desktop may be largely gesture controlled, and I find the simplification of screen real estate is welcome. I can live with invisible buttons, as long as I know they are there, and searching directly by typing on a particular screen is great.

To shut down by powering down the machine is a great no-no for Windows users - we must "always shut down Windows properly"since time immemorial - it is as great a paradigm shift as having to go to the start button to shut down in Windows 95, or to press Ctrl Alt Del to log on in Windows NT, which caused great consternation to users in their time, but as always, we get used to it.

 

[kado897]

It would also be possible to create a Desktop or Metro shortcut for shutdown /r /o /p if you are trying to sort out an awkward problem, and need to repeatedly alternate from normal to safe mode boots.

Thanks. It didn't work for me. I had to use shutdown /r /o /t 00​ which works great. Especially useful in a VM where timing the F8 is problematic.

http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials/4943-startup-options-menu-shortcut-create-windows-8-a.html

 

[fafhrd]

@kado897 - thanks
changed

 

[parsnipnose3000]

I registered here specifically to thank you for such an excellent post. It was very helpful.

 

[Brink]

Welcome to Eight Forums Dorian. I'm glad it could help.

 

[amidmany]

Do you miss being able to ALT-F4 out of your win 7 desktop with whatever command you set it for?
Here is how to change the setting for ‘Shut Down Windows’ dialogue box in Win 8

Open the ‘Local Group Policy Editor’ buy typing “gpedit.msi” in the start screen.
Go to: User Configuration
Go to: Administrative Templates
Go to: Start Menu and Taskbar
Go to: Change Start Menu power button and right click ‘edit’
Once in the window choose ‘enable’
Choose which setting you want with the pull down menu.
Now go to the desktop and ALT-F4 and you'll see your choice reflected there!

 

[Brink]

Do you miss being able to ALT-F4 out of your win 7 desktop with whatever command you set it for?
Here is how to change the setting for ‘Shut Down Windows’ dialogue box in Win 8

Open the ‘Local Group Policy Editor’ buy typing “gpedit.msi” in the start screen.
Go to: User Configuration
Go to: Administrative Templates
Go to: Start Menu and Taskbar
Go to: Change Start Menu power button and right click ‘edit’
Once in the window choose ‘enable’
Choose which setting you want with the pull down menu.
Now go to the desktop and ALT-F4 and you'll see your choice reflected there!

Hello Aminmany, and welcome to Eight Forums.

If you like, you could also do this below to only have it apply to the current user.

http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials/39850-shut-down-windows-change-default-action-windows-8-a.html