How to Make a Shutdown Shortcut in Windows

Last Updated: March 17, 2023

Creating a shutdown shortcut in Windows will allow you to shutdown your computer in a single click. This can be especially useful if you use Windows 8, which has hidden the shutdown command behind several menus. Windows 10 and Windows 8 use a slightly different format than older versions of Windows.

Method 1

Method 1 of 2:

Windows 8 and 10

1
Open Desktop Mode (Windows 8). You can access the Desktop by clicking on the Desktop tile on the Start screen or by pressing the Windows key + D. This will open the desktop, where you will see several icons.
2
Create a new shortcut on the desktop. Right-click on the desktop, select "New," and then choose "Shortcut." This will open the Create Shortcut window.

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3
Enter the shutdown command. In the field labeled “Type the location of the item”, enter shutdown /s This will create a shortcut that will shut down the computer after a 30-second default timer.
- If you want to adjust the timer, add the /t XXX command to the end of the line. XXX represents the number of seconds delay you want prior to shutdown. For example: shutdown /s /t 45 will create a shortcut that shuts down after 45 seconds.
- Setting the timer to 0 will shut down the computer immediately after the shortcut is run.
4
Rename your shortcut. By default the shortcut will be named “shutdown”. You can change the name to whatever you’d like in the next window.
5
Change the icon. Windows will use the default Program icon for your new shortcut. You can change this by right-clicking on it and selecting "Properties." In the "Shortcut" tab, select "Change Icon…" This will open a list of available icons. Find one that better matches your shutdown shortcut.
6
Pin the shortcut to your Start menu or taskbar. Once the shortcut is complete, you can add it to your Start menu or taskbar by right-clicking the shortcut and select "Pin to Start" or "Pin to Taskbar." This will create a tile on your Start menu or a shortcut in your taskbar that you can click to shut down your computer.

Method 2

Method 2 of 2:

Windows XP/Vista/7

1
Create a new shortcut on your desktop. Right-click on your desktop. Hover the cursor over "New" and click "Shortcut" on the next menu that appears.
2
Enter the shutdown command. Copy and paste the following into the text field: shutdown.exe -s
- To create a restart shortcut, replace "-s" with "-r" ("shutdown.exe -r").
3
Adjust the shutdown timer. Without changing any settings, the shutdown shortcut will shut down the computer after 30 seconds. To change the timer, add "-t XXX" to the end of the command. XXX represents the number of seconds delay you want prior to shutdown. For example: shutdown.exe -s -t 45 will create a shortcut that shuts down after 45 seconds.
- To add a "goodbye" message, type -c "your message" (including the quotation marks) at the end.
4
Type a name for the shortcut. Click "Finish" when done.
5
Change the icon. If you’d rather have a custom icon instead of the default Program icon that Windows assigns, right-click the shortcut and choose "Properties". In the Shortcut tab, click the Change Icon button. Choose an appropriate icon and then press OK to confirm.
6
Double-click the shortcut to initiate shutdown. You'll see a window counting down and your message will be shown. Once the timer runs out, all your programs will start to close and Windows will shut down.

Community Q&A

Question

How do you make it a log off shortcut?

Community Answer

Follow the instructions above but replace "/s" with "/l" (l for "log off").
Question

How do I make it a sleep shortcut?

Community Answer

Open notepad. Type, "shutdown /s /hybrid." Save as, "name.bat." Bear in mind, sleep is a dangerous function, which some people have trouble with.
Question

When the shutdown timer starts, how can I cancel the shutdown process?

Community Answer

To abort the shutdown, go to the Start Menu, click Run, and type: shutdown -a .