Use Power Button To Shut Down Or Hibernate Windows 11 PC

There are different ways to shut down, hibernate, and sleep your Windows 11 computer. If running Windows 11 on a laptop, you can even use the physical power button to shut down, hibernate or sleep your computer.

The power button on your Windows 11 device, by default, is only used to turn on your device. However, there is an option under power settings to configure it to shut down, hibernate or sleep your computer.

This guide will show you how to change the default power button settings so that you can configure it to turn off your Windows 11 computer quickly.

Tip: 5 ways to shut down, restart and hibernate Windows 11 PC

Shut down, hibernate or sleep your Windows 11 PC with the power button

Step 1: Open the classic Control Panel. There are multiple ways to open the Control Panel. The easiest option is to type Control Panel in the search and hit the Enter key.

Step 2: Once the Control Panel is launched, change the View by to Small icons (refer to the picture below).

Step 3: Now, click on Power Options. This will open the Power Options window.

Step 4: On the left side of the window, click on the Choose what the power buttons do link.

Step 5: Here, from the drop-down next to When I press the power button, select an action that you would like Windows to do when you press the power button. The drop-down offers Sleep, Shut down, Hibernate, and Turn off the display options.

You can select an option for both On battery and Plugged in states or just for one state. Also, no need to choose the same action for both On battery and Plugged in states.

As you can see, the same window offers options to set what happens when you press the sleep button (not available on modern computers) and when you close the screen lid.

Step 6: Finally, click on the Save changes button to apply the new settings.

Tip: Irrespective of how you have configured the power button to do when you press it, pressing down the power button for about 7 to 10 seconds shuts down your computer. Use this method if your Windows 11 laptop is not responding, and you want to shut down your PC.