How to shut down and restart Windows 8 easily

For years, shutting down Windows has been a matter of clicking Start and then Shut Down (or Restart). With Windows 8, Microsoft essentially doesn’t want you to shut down your PC. This kind of makes sense on a tablet computer, where standby/hibernation makes more sense, but restarting a desktop PC is still something that you’ll want to do on a fairly regular basis.

The proper way of shutting down Windows 8 is through the Charms menu, which can be opened by moving your mouse to the top right corner and then sliding down (a horrible gesture), or hitting Windows Key-I (much better). Then just click the Power button and select Sleep, Shut Down, or Restart.

The other option, which I prefer, is simply going to the Desktop and hitting Alt-F4. This pops up the old-school (Windows XP/2000) Windows Shut Down dialog. This method is particularly useful on dual-screen setups, where you will often have the Desktop visible on one of your monitors.

The fastest option is to create a Shut Down shortcut and place it on your Desktop taskbar and Metro Start screen. Right click your Desktop, click New > Shortcut, and then type in: shutdown /s /t 0. (Don’t include the period. That’s a zero, not the letter O.) You can then right click the new shortcut and Pin to Start — and then you can drag it onto your taskbar. Clicking the shortcut will shut down your PC immediately.