How To Restart A PC On Windows 11

Restart is a system process that power cycles your device and reboots it. Users may need to restart their device to perform system updates, refresh processes, carry out driver updates, and refresh a frozen PC.

With the huge interface overhaul brought by Windows 11, users may feel unfamiliar while navigating the new operating system. Important functions like shutdown and restart options may be difficult to find and execute. And for this, we have listed methods by which users can restart their devices.

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How to Restart on Windows 11

Restarting your device is a fairly straightforward process. Fortunately, Windows provides users with multiple ways to restart their devices. The easiest method to restart your device is to simply press the restart button and wait until the system boots back.

However, the location and availability of the restart button are different for every device and model. Users will need to refer to the product manual or the manufacturer’s site for additional details.

Other methods by which users can restart devices running Windows 11 are listed below in detail.

From Power Menu

The easiest method to restart your device is from the power menu. This option is located in the Start menu of your device. To restart your device from the Power menu

Press the Windows key or click on the Start button
Navigate to the Power menu
Click on Restart to proceed

Right Click Start Menu

Another method to restart your device is through the Power user task menu. This menu lets users restart their devices without the need for launching the Start menu. To restart from the Power user menu

Right-click on the Start menu
Hover on Shut down or sign out option
On the next menu, select Restart to proceed

From Run Commands

Run is a single-line command interface that besides launching applications, can also be used to execute system commands and actions. This includes shutting down or restarting your device as well. To restart Windows from Run

Press the Windows key + R to open Run
Type shutdown /r and press the Enter key
The device will now restart in a short while

Using a Command Terminal

The command interface interprets text and syntaxes entered by the user to carry out processes in the system. It can be used to emulate the graphical user interface actions to shutdown or restart the device. To restart the device, users can execute the command from both Command Prompt and Windows PowerShell. To do this

Press the Windows key + R to open Run
Type cmd or powershell and press Enter to launch the desired terminal
On the console, type shutdown /r to immediately restart your device
To perform a delayed restart, type shutdown /r /t <time in seconds>
[eg: shutdown /r /t 120]

Keyboard Shortcuts

Keyboard shortcuts can also be used to directly launch the power menu if the mouse or the user interface is not working properly. There are multiple methods by which the user can enter the power menu by using a keyboard. To restart from keyboard shortcuts

Navigate to the desktop and press the Alt key + F4 together to open the Shutdown Windows menu
Click on the drop-down menu and select Restart to restart your device
Your device will now begin to restart immediately

Another method to restart the device from a keyboard shortcut is to launch the security options menu and restart the device from there

Navigate to the desktop and press the Ctrl + Alt + Del keys together
On the panel, press the power icon located in the bottom right corner
From the menu, click on Restart to restart your device

From Login Screen

Users can restart their device from the login screen when they perform a cold boot or lock their device. To restart from the login screen

If you are logged in, log off or press the Windows key + L to lock the device
Press any key to open the password/PIN input field
On the bottom right, click on the power icon
Select Restart from the menu to perform a restart on your device

Scheduled Restart from Task Scheduler

Task scheduler is a component on Windows OS that can perform a task automatically after a set period of time. The task needs to be defined by the user. With the help of a task scheduler, users can perform an automatic restart process on their devices after a set period of time. To do this

Open Run and type taskschd.msc to open the task scheduler
On the left panel, select and right-click on the Task Scheduler Library and select New Folder
Give the folder an appropriate name and click on OK
Select the folder and click Create basic task from the right pane
Give the task a name and description
On the Trigger section, select a schedule and click on Next
Specify the time when you want to reboot your device and click on Next
On action, choose Start a program and click on Next
On Program/script, type shutdown /r and click on Next
Click Yes on the prompt and select Finish to complete the process

Desktop Shortcut

You can create an executable desktop shortcut that can be launched quickly to perform a system reboot. To do this

Navigate to the desktop and right-click on an empty space
Click on New and select Shortcut
On the type the location of the item section, type shutdown /r and click on Next
Type a name for the shortcut and click on Finish
[eg: restart.exe]
Double-click on the shortcut to initiate a system reboot