How to Shut Down Your Windows Computer from the Command Line

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This wikiHow teaches you how to use a Windows computer's Command Prompt app to shut down the computer.

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    You can do this either by clicking the Windows logo in the bottom-right corner of the screen, or by pressing the ⊞ Win key on your keyboard. The Start menu will open with your mouse cursor in the "Search" field.
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    Doing so will search your computer for the Command Prompt app, which will pop up at the top of the search menu.
    • You can also bring up the "Search" bar on Windows 8 by hovering your mouse in the top-right corner of the screen and clicking the magnifying glass when it appears.
    • If you're using Windows XP, you'll instead click the Run app on the right side of the Start menu.
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    It resembles a black box. Doing this will invoke a drop-down menu.
    • If you're using Windows XP, you'll instead type cmd into the Run window.
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    It's near the top of the drop-down menu. Doing so will open Command Prompt with administrator privileges.
    • You'll need to confirm this choice by clicking Yes when prompted.
    • If you're using Windows XP, you'll click OK to open Command Prompt.
    • You won't be able to run Command Prompt in administrator mode if you're on a restricted, public, or networked computer (e.g., a library or school computer).
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    This command will shut down your computer within a minute of the command being issued.
    • If you want to shut down your computer immediately, instead type shutdown -s -t 00 into Command Prompt.
    • To shut down your computer a set number of seconds or minutes from the current time, type shutdown -s -t ## where "##" is the number of seconds (e.g., "06" for six seconds, "60" for a minute, "120" for two minutes, etc.).
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    Doing so will run your command and prompt your computer to begin shutting down. It will typically do so within less than a minute.
    • If you have several programs open, Windows will first close these programs for you. Make sure your work is saved before shutting down.
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  • Question
    What command can I use to shut down 15 seconds from now?
    Community Answer
    You would type (without quotations): "shutdown -s -t 15".
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  • Question
    How do I hack a WiFi network with command prompt?
    Community Answer
    Your best bet is to use an OS designed for such, like Kali Linux.
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  • Question
    How do I run USSD codes on Lumia 710?
    Ali Zain
    Community Answer
    USSD Codes aren't supported in 710, maybe a future software update will cover it.
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      • This method of shutting down your computer is useful for bypassing any loading programs that slow down the shutdown process.
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