How To Easily Shut Down, Restart, Or Hibernate Windows 8.1

Microsoft’s decision to remove Start menu and move power options to Settings charm had made many Windows 8 users add custom shut down, restart, and hibernate tiles to the Start screen, and also add shut down, restart, and hibernate options to the power user menu (Win + X) menu that appears when you right-click the lower-left corner of the screen.

In Windows 8.1, however, you don’t need to manually add power options to Start screen or other areas as Microsoft has simplified the job of restarting and shutting down Windows by adding restart, shutdown, and sleep options to the power user menu.

When you are in desktop mode, either perform a right-click on the Start button or press Windows log key + X keys to see the power user menu. And when you’re using Start screen, either simultaneously press Windows + X keys or move the mouse pointer to the lower-left corner of the screen to see Windows logo animation and then do a right-click on it to see the power user menu.

The power user menu, in addition to various other options such as Command Prompt, Device Manager, Disk Management, Control Panel and Task Manager, now has a new option named Shut down. Hover the mouse cursor on the Shut down option to see Sleep, Hibernate, and Restart options. Note that Hibernate options isn’t enabled by default, but you can enable the same by following our how to enable Hibernation option in Windows 8/8.1 guide.

You can also shut down, restart, sleep, or hibernate your PC with the help of keyboard shortcuts. To do this, first access the power user menu by pressing Windows + X keys, press “U” key to see sleep, hibernate, shut down and restart options, and then press “S” key to put your PC into Sleep mode, press “H” key to hibernate, press “U” key to shut down, and “R” key to restart Windows.

For instance, to hibernate Windows 8.1 using keyboard shortcuts, you will need to press Win +X first, then “U” key, and finally, “H” key.

We also recommend you go through our how to use Slide to shut down feature in Windows 8.1 to discover an awesome way to shut down Windows 8.1. Meanwhile, you can use Win + X Menu Editor to add new options to the power user menu.