Clicking on Start -> Shut Down… and waiting for the pop-up to Lock, Sleep, Shut down, or Restart is simply too slow for me. i am fighting for every possible second that i can save!
You might think that i am rather extreme on time, but with every second saved, at the end of the day, the week, the month, the year, and even your life, it will add up to a substantial amount of time.
“If you are doing something repeatedly, almost every day, i strongly encourage you to find means and ways to make it faster or better!“
No Computer Shutdown Script Required
Are you looking for some computer shutdown shortcut or script that will shut down your PC with a click? i used to have a shortcut on my desktop that does that.
Now i don’t use that shortcut anymore… i found a faster way: The computer power button – Yes, the very button that you use to switch on your computer. Do you know that it can be used to shut down your computer too? Here’s how:
Open your Windows Control Panel ( Start > Settings > Control Panel > System and Security)
Click on “Change what the power buttons do” under the Power Options
If you accidentally opened the Power Options Panel, click “Choose what the power buttons do” on the left.
On the right of “When I press the power button:“. Choose “Shut down” in the drop-down box.
Remember to Save changes and we are done!
If the Power Button is out of reach…
Depending on the placement of your CPU…
Another option is to create a “soft” power button on your desktop.
Right Click on Desktop > New > Shortcut
Input: shutdown.exe /s and click Next.
We can name the shortcut whatever we want.
Be careful when double-clicking on that new “icon”, because once you do that, your PC shuts down.
There are other codes than /s, but i feel they are optional, and i don’t see the point of having your computer bid farewell to you or count down before shutting off.
Till Then
P.S. This article is written in 2011 but updated for Win11, because it still works.
P.P.S. Looking back, this little Windows trick was an early expression of something I’ve always believed: if we repeat something often enough, even a second matters. i wrote more about that idea in Just 1 Second Faster: Small Moments Growing Momentum.