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  • What are my options for powering down my Windows 8 system?

What are my options for powering down my Windows 8 system?

July 7, 2014 / Dave Taylor / Windows PC Help / 4 Comments

I generally just close the lid on my Win8 laptop when I’m done using it, but since it died last time I did that and stuck me in the dreaded Windows 8 recovery mode on restart, I’d like to know what my options are for a proper shutdown, not just a sleep?

Windows has a couple of different power modes you should know about, actually, because the options are more than just “sleep” or “power down”. The new one is “hibernate” and while I imagine most people don’t use it — and it’s hard to find! — it’s good to know your options, right?

Microsoft explains hibernate this way: “Hibernate uses less power than sleep and when you start up the PC again, you’re back to where you left off (though not as fast as sleep). Use hibernation when you know that you won’t use your laptop or tablet for an extended period and won’t have an opportunity to charge the battery during that time. ”

But here’s the wrinkle: hibernate and even a power mode kinda like hibernate that’s called “hybrid sleep” might not show up as an option even if you’re on an laptop or desktop system. Again, Microsoft explains that your video card might not support “sleep”, your admin might have disabled hibernation or your BIOS (basic I/O subsystem) might not support power saving modes.

To start, however, log in to your Windows 8 laptop system and do a quick search for “define power buttons”. Click or tap on the result and you’ll end up here:

define power button functionality windows 8 8.1

The key options here are on the bottom: Check “sleep” and “Lock” as options so you have the full range available. You might have more choices too, because I don’t get to “hibernate” my laptop because apparently it’s not that smart. Sheesh. 🙂

Now there are options. On the Windows 8 Start Screen, for example, look on the top right and you’ll see something like this:

top right of windows start screen

The “power” button (the circle with the vertical line) isn’t just for powering down your system, as is obvious once you click on it:

update pending sleep restart

Oops, looks like I have a pending update! I’ll go ahead and click on “Update and restart” so give me a minute…

….

Still here? Great!

Now, you can also use the Charms Bar to access this from any Win8 application you might be using. Just use the Cmd-C shortcut or swipe from the right edge of the screen. Choose “Settings” (the gear icon) and you’ll see this:

power and other settings, win8 charms bar

Again, the Power button leads to more options, as we’ve already seen.

Let’s do something different, though, because there are more options. Go to the Start Screen and click on your picture.

Here are the options that appear:

sign out of account or lock, but don't sleep

On a desktop system, “Lock” is often all you need because it’ll automatically go into a power saving mode.

Still want that “sleep” (or “hibernate”) button? Sign out, then look closely at what’s shown on the login screen:

login screen options win8.1

(I’ve kinda squished things down a bit to make it all fit in this screen shot)

Look on the lower right. Yup, it’s that power button again. Click on it…

sleep, shut down, restart win8

Ah, there are our options again. Sleep, Shutdown, Hibernate (perhaps), and Restart.

Those are all your options. You can, of course, just close your laptop, but if you’re not going to use it for an extended period of time, I definitely recommend you pick a sleep mode or just power down properly before that lid comes down. Saves a lot of pain when you open it up again!

About the Author: Dave Taylor has been involved with the online world since the early days of the Internet. Author of over 20 technical books, he runs the popular AskDaveTaylor.com tech help site. You can also find his gadget reviews on YouTube and chat with him on Twitter as @DaveTaylor.

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Starbucks coffee cup I do have a lot to say, and questions of my own for that matter, but first I'd like to say thank you, Dave, for all your helpful information by buying you a cup of coffee!
customize win8 power settings, dead battery, microsoft windows 8, power options, recovery mode, sleep vs hibernate, windows 8 hibernate, windows 8 sleep

4 comments on “What are my options for powering down my Windows 8 system?”

  1. J G says:
    July 16, 2014 at 6:47 am

    i installed Classic Shell and use that to make W8 look like and be able to make it easier to use like W7 and earlier versions.

    So when i shut down, it shuts down.

    it may take that bit longer to start, but the battery is not being drained if left for long periods of time.

    Reply
    • Dave Taylor says:
      July 16, 2014 at 8:06 am

      I can understand people trying to make Win8 look more like Win7, JG, but I have to say that the more I use Windows 8 — especially on a touch screen system — the more I can appreciate what they did with the interface.

      Reply
  2. Denver Roberts says:
    July 13, 2014 at 10:04 pm

    I like to run in desktop mode and created a shortcut to shutdown my laptop:

    C:\Windows\System32\shutdown.exe /s /f /t 00

    Works great for me.

    Reply
    • Alan M. says:
      July 14, 2014 at 2:28 pm

      I used that and also added the restart wich has similar coding. With the update to 8.1 I deleted both because when you click on the NEW window logo on the bottom left it brings you to the Start Screen which now has a power button on it. That was the thing that drove me nutts with not having the start menu. Now I’m a happy camper. I no longer miss the start button.

      Between Desktop short-cuts and Task Bar short-cuts I rarely need the Start Page.

      I start in Desktop and that’s it.

      Reply

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