From Windows 8 onwards several ways to shutdown your PC were introduced. Windows 8 in particular made it a difficult process with several steps. This was made easier in later versions of Windows. Whatever version of Windows you are running you can easily create a Shutdown PC button to allow you to turn of your PC with a single click of the mouse.

Shutdown PC icon

To create a shortcut on your Desktop follow the steps below:

1. Right click on the Desktop
2. Move the mouse cursor down to New and then click Shortcut
3. Within the box marked “Type the location of the item:”, type in shutdown /s /t 00 and then click next
4. Type in a name for the shortcut. i.e. Shutdown PC, and then press finish.

You will now have an icon for quickly shutting down your PC.

Changing the Icon

To make the icon easier to find you can add a custom icon. To do this follow the steps below:

1. Right click the newly created Shutdown PC icon
2. Click on Properties
3. Click on Change Icon – You will be shown a message that advises you that the shutdown exe file does not contain images, this is normal behaviour. Click ok
4. Within the box that appears select a suitable icon and click ok
5. Click ok on the Shutdown PC Properties window

Your icon will now have a custom icon.

Pin to Taskbar

The icon can be pinned to the taskbar to make it easy to shutdown the PC with a single click of the mouse. To do this follow the steps below:

1. Right click the Shutdown PC icon
2. Click on Pin to taskbar

The icon will now be pinned to the taskbar for easy access.

---

While you are here check out our previous Tech Tips articles!