Create Shutdown and Restart Shortcuts in Windows 8 (Historical)

Historical support note: Windows 8 is no longer supported by Microsoft. The shortcut technique is retained because it accurately documents the Windows 8 interface.

Windows 8 made power controls less obvious than earlier desktop releases. One workaround was to create your own Shutdown and Restart shortcuts on the desktop and pin them to the Start screen.

Create a Shutdown shortcut

1. Open the Desktop.
2. Right-click an empty area and select New > Shortcut.
3. For the location, enter:

shutdown.exe /s /t 0

4. Select Next.
5. Name the shortcut Shutdown and select Finish.

The /s option shuts down the PC and /t 0 sets the delay to zero seconds.

Create a Restart shortcut

Repeat the same process, but use:

shutdown.exe /r /t 0

Name the shortcut Restart.

Pin a shortcut to the Windows 8 Start screen

Right-click the shortcut and select Pin to Start.

You can also change its icon:

1. Right-click the shortcut and select Properties.
2. Select Change Icon.
3. Choose an icon and select OK.

A note about unsaved work

These commands request a normal shutdown or restart. Do not add /f unless you specifically need to force applications to close, because Microsoft warns that forcing applications to close can cause loss of unsaved data.

Official references

• Microsoft shutdown command: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/administration/windows-commands/shutdown
• Microsoft Windows lifecycle status: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/deployment/updates-lifecycle/what-does-it-mean-if-windows-isn-t-supported