How to Create a Shutdown Shortcut on Your Windows Desktop or Taskbar

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Add an icon to your desktop or Start menu to shut down your PC

Co-authored by Yaffet Meshesha and Travis Boylls

Last Updated: May 28, 2025 Fact Checked

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Using Windows 8, 10, and 11

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Using Windows 7, Vista, or XP (Historic)

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Creating a shutdown shortcut in Windows will allow you to shut down your computer in a single click. You can also assign the shortcut to a keyboard shortcut that will allow you to shut down your computer with a quick keyboard hotkey. This wikiHow article teaches you how to create a shutdown shortcut in Windows with expert tips from computer specialist Yaffet Meshesha.

Creating a Shutdown Shortcut on Your Windows Desktop

Right-click the desktop and select New > Shortcut .
Type “shutdown /s” into the location field and click Next. .
Name the shortcut and click Finish .
Right-click the shortcut and select Pin to Start or Pin to Taskbar .

Method 1

Method 1 of 2:

Using Windows 8, 10, and 11

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1
Create a new shortcut on the desktop. Meshesha explains that you can can create a desktop shortcut by right-clicking on the desktop, selecting New , and then choosing Shortcut . This will open the Create Shortcut window.
- If you're using Windows 8, open Desktop Mode by pressing the Windows key + D .
2
Enter the shutdown command and click Next . 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. ^{[1]
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- 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.
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By default, the shortcut will be named “shutdown”. You can change the name to whatever you’d like in the next window. Click Finish to add the shortcut to your desktop.
4
Change the icon. Windows will use the default Program icon for your new shortcut. You can change the icon to something more appropriate (i.e., the orange icon with a circle with a line in the middle). Use the following steps to change the desktop icon:
- Right-click the desktop icon.
- Click Properties .
- Click the Shortcut tab.
- Click Change icon …
- Click an icon to select it.
- Click Apply .
5
Pin the shortcut to your Start menu or taskbar. According to Meshesha, once you have created the shortcut, you can add it to your Start menu or taskbar by right-clicking its icon and selecting Pin to Start or Pin to taskbar . This will create a tile on your Start menu or a shortcut in your taskbar you can click to shut down your computer.
- If you don’t see one or both of these options in the context menu, click Show more options at the bottom.
6
Create a keyboard shortcut (optional). You can also assign the shortcut to a keyboard hotkey . This will allow you to shut down your computer using a quick press of a keyboard button combination. Use the following steps to do so:
- Right-click the desktop icon.
- Click Properties .
- Click the Shortcut tab.
- Click the field next to “Shortcut key.”
- Press the key(s) you want to use as a keyboard shortcut.
  - You can’t use “Shift” as one of the keys.
- Click Apply .

Method 2

Method 2 of 2:

Using Windows 7, Vista, or XP (Historic)

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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 and click Finish . This will create a shortcut on your desktop.[Image:Make a Shutdown Shortcut in Windows Step 10 Version 7.jpg|center]]
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 click OK to confirm.
You'll see a window counting down, and your shutdown message will be shown. Once the timer runs out, all your programs will start to close, and Windows will shut down.

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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").

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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.

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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 .

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You can use this to create a shutdown computer prank!

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To abort (stop) the shutdown, go to the Start menu, click Run , type shutdown -a , and click OK . You could even create an "abort shutdown" shortcut, too!

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This code closes each and every program and then shuts down—the way Windows shuts down when you do it via the Start Menu. If you want to avoid the countdown and trigger the shutdown instantly, use shutdown -s -t 00 . Don't worry if you have documents open, you'll still be given the opportunity to save your work.

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How to Create a Shutdown Shortcut on Your Windows Desktop or Taskbar

Creating a Shutdown Shortcut on Your Windows Desktop

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Using Windows 8, 10, and 11

Using Windows 7, Vista, or XP (Historic)

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