My laptop is not shutting down and also the restart button is not working

Question

My laptop is not shutting down and also the restart button is not working

Answer 1

Hi mahmodol maishan,

Thanks for reaching out to Microsoft Q&A Forum. I understand that your Windows 11 laptop is not shutting down properly and the Restart option is also not working.

Please make sure you already tried the Q&A Assist steps. In addition, to help narrow this down a bit before proceeding:

1, Does the system hang on a specific screen during shutdown or restart, such as “Shutting down” or a blank screen?

2, Are you able to sign back into Windows normally after forcing the device to power off?

In the meantime, you can try these steps:

1, Disable Fast Startup

• Open Control Panel
• Select Power Options
• Click Choose what the power buttons do
• Select Change settings that are currently unavailable
• Uncheck Turn on fast startup and save changes

2, Check for pending Windows updates

• Open Settings
• Go to Windows Update
• Select Check for updates and install any available updates
• Restart the device afterward if prompted

3, Run a system file check

• Open Command Prompt as administrator
• Type sfc /scannow and press Enter
• Wait for the scan to complete and restart the device

4, Check for background apps blocking shutdown

• Open Task Manager
• Review running apps and end any non‑essential applications
• Try shutting down again from the Start menu

5, Perform a clean boot test

• Open System Configuration
• Go to the Services tab and select Hide all Microsoft services
• Click Disable all, then restart the device
• Try shutting down again to see if behavior changes

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Answer 2

Hi! Let me help you with this issue.

Open CMD, right-click the Start Menu, and click on CMD.

On the command prompt window, type in shutdown /r /t 0

and press enter.

This command should force your machine to reboot.

Answer 3

Use the power button to force the laptop off only as a last resort, because it interrupts the normal Windows shutdown process and can cause system issues.

If Windows is frozen and neither Shut down nor Restart works from the Start menu, try these steps:

1. Try a forced shutdown
   • Press and hold the physical power button until the device turns off.
   • Wait a few seconds, then press the power button again to turn it back on.
   • This is similar to the guidance for Surface devices when Windows is unresponsive.
2. If the system repeatedly hangs on shutdown or restart
   • After forcing it off and back on, check for updates and stability fixes once Windows is running normally.
   • If the device still frequently freezes or fails to shut down, back up important data and consider a repair or reset using Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE) or vendor recovery tools, as shown in similar scenarios where updates or system issues prevent normal startup/shutdown.

If the laptop continues not to respond to shutdown or restart and frequently requires holding the power button, hardware inspection or a full system recovery may be necessary.

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References:

• Advanced troubleshooting for Event ID 41: "The system has rebooted without cleanly shutting down first"
• Windows doesn't respond or stops working on Surface
• Force a shutdown and restart your Surface
• Fast startup causes hibernation or shutdown to fail in Windows 10 or Windows 8.1
• Windows RT 8.1 or Windows 8.1-based computer fails to shut down, and you must perform a cold shutdown
• You cannot make a computer that is running Windows 7 shut down or sleep
• The shutdown process does not finish, and you receive an error message on a computer that is running Windows Vista or Windows Server 2008: "Stop 0x0000009F"
• A computer that is running Windows 7 does not start after you force the computer to shut down