How to Shut Down or Sleep your Computer & Knowing Which is Best

  – How to shut down or sleep your computer – 

How to shut down or sleep your computer: When we use a computer, at some point, we will need to disconnect from it, either by putting it to sleep, shutting down, or hibernating it.

How to Shut Down or Sleep your Computer & Knowing Which is Best.

This article explains the different ways of disconnecting from your computer by putting it to sleep or having to shut it down.

Shut Down vs. Sleep vs. Hibernate your Computer

Each of the four power-down states appears to shut off your computer, but they all work differently.

Shut Down:

This is the power-off state most of us are familiar with. When you shut down your PC, all your open programs close and the PC shuts down your operating system.

A PC that’s shut down uses almost no power. However, when you want to use your PC again, you’ll have to turn it on and go through the typical boot-up process, waiting for your hardware to initialize and startup programs to load.

Depending on your system, this can take anywhere from a few seconds to a few minutes.

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Sleep:

In sleep mode, the PC enters a low-power state. The PC’s state is kept in memory when o put to sleep, but other parts of the computer are shut down and won’t use any power.

When you turn on the PC, it snaps back to life quickly—you won’t have to wait for it to boot up. Everything will be right where you left off, including running apps and open documents.

Hibernate:

Your PC saves its current state to your hard drive, essentially dumping the contents of its memory to a file.

When you boot up the PC, it loads the previous state from your hard drive back to memory. This allows you to save your computer’s state, including all your open programs and data, and come back to it later.

It takes longer to resume from hibernate than sleep, but hibernate uses much less power than sleep. A computer that’s hibernating uses about the same amount of power as a computer that’s shut down.

Hybrid: 

Hybrid mode is really intended for desktop PCs and should be disabled by default for most laptops. Still, you might come across the option at some point.

Hybrid is like a combination of sleep and hibernate. Like hibernate, it saves your memory state to a hard disk.

Like sleep, it also keeps a trickle of power going to memory so that you can wake the computer almost instantly.

The idea is that you can essentially put your PC into sleep mode, but still be protected in case your PC loses power while sleeping.

The reason laptops don’t bother with the hybrid mode is really just because they have a battery.

If you put your computer to sleep and the battery becomes critically low, the PC will automatically go into hibernate mode to save your state.

Why Sleep and Hibernate Are Awesome

If you regularly use a computer, shutting down is extremely inconvenient. Before you shut down, you need to save your work.

The next time you go to boot your computer, you’ll have to sit through the boot-up process, manually relaunch all the programs you were using, and reopen all the documents you were editing.

Instead of deciding to shut down your computer, Sleep and hibernate, on the other hand, preserve your session.

When you’re done using your computer, you can just close your laptop’s lid (or, on a desktop, choose the Sleep or Hibernate option). You don’t have to worry about closing your programs and saving your documents.

When you come back and press the power button, everything will be exactly as you left it. It’ll start back up within a second or two if you put it to sleep, or a bit longer than that if you hibernated it.

All your open programs and documents will be in the same place, and you can immediately start doing whatever you need without sitting through a boot-up process, launching your programs, and opening your documents.

When to Shut Down your PC

While the other power options will work for you most of the time, you will still have to shut down your PC from time to time.

  • Consider shutting down if you infrequently use your PC. For example, if you use it for a few hours on Monday and don’t plan on using it again until Friday, there’s no harm in turning it off.
  • Always shut down properly before removing power from your PC. Removing power includes things such as unplugging from a wall socket or by removing the battery.
  • Always shut down before leaving your PC behind for long stretches of time, like when taking a vacation.
  • Always shut down if you’re planning to ship a laptop or tablet by post, or when placing it in the storage hold while traveling by plane or coach.

How to Turn your PC Off Completely

To shut down:

For Windows 10 Select Start and then select Power > Shut down.
For Windows 8.1 / Windows RT 8.1 Move your mouse to the lower left-hand corner of the screen and right-click the Start button or press the Windows logo key + X on your keyboard. Tap or click Shut down or sign out and choose Shut down.
For Windows 7 Click the Start button and then click the Shutdown button.

How to Sleep System 

This uses very little power, your PC starts up faster, and you’re instantly back to where you left off.

You don’t have to worry that you’ll lose your work because of your battery draining, because Windows automatically saves all your work and turns off the PC if the battery is too low.

Use sleep when you’re going to be away from your PC for just a little while—like when you’re taking a coffee break.

How to Sleep System For a lot of PCs (especially laptops and tablets), your PC goes to sleep when you close your lid or press the power button.

To make your PC sleep:

  1. Open power options:
    • For Windows 10, select Start , then select Settings  > System  > Power & sleep  > Additional power settings.
    • For Windows 8.1 / Windows RT 8.1, swipe in from the edge of the screen, tap Search (or if you’re using a mouse, point to the upper-right corner of the screen, move the mouse pointer down, and then click Search), enter Power options in the search box and then tap or click Power options.
    • For Windows 7, click the Start button, click Control Panel, click System and Security, and then click Power Options.
  2. Do one of the following:
    • If you’re using a desktop, tablet, or laptop, select Choose what the power buttons do. Next to When I press the power button, select Sleep, and then select Save changes.
    • If you’re using only a laptop, select Choose what closing the lid does. Next to When I close the lid, select Sleep, and then select Save changes.
  3. When you’re ready to make your PC sleep, just press the power button on your desktop, tablet, or laptop, or close your laptop’s lid.

On most PCs, you can resume working by pressing your PC’s power button. However, not all PCs are the same. You might be able to wake it by pressing any key on the keyboard, clicking a mouse button, or opening the lid on a laptop. Check the documentation that came with your computer or go to the manufacturer’s website.

How to Hibernate System 

This option was designed for laptops and might not be available for all PCs. (For example, PCs with InstantGo don’t have the hibernate option.)

Hibernate uses less power than sleep and when you start up the PC again, you’re back to where you left off (though not as fast as sleep).

Use hibernation when you know that you won’t use your laptop or tablet for an extended period and won’t have an opportunity to charge the battery during that time.

First check to see if this option is available on your PC and if it is, turn it on.

To hibernate your PC:

  1. Open power options:
    • For Windows 10, select Start , then select Settings  > System  > Power & sleep  > Additional power settings.
    • For Windows 8.1 / Windows RT 8.1, swipe in from the edge of the screen, tap Search (or if you’re using a mouse, point to the upper-right corner of the screen, move the mouse pointer down, and then click Search), enter Power options in the search box and then tap or click Power options.
    • For Windows 7, click the Start button, click Control Panel, click System and Security, and then click Power Options.

  2. Select Choose what the power button does, and then select Change settings that are currently unavailable. Under Shutdown settings, select the Hibernate checkbox (if it’s available), and then select Save changes.

Now you’ll be able to hibernate your PC in a few different ways:

  • For Windows 10, select Start, and then select Power Hibernate. You can also press the Windows logo key + X on your keyboard, and then select Shut down or sign out > Hibernate.
  • For Windows 8.1 / Windows RT 8.1, move your mouse to the lower left-hand corner of the screen and right-click the Start button or press the Windows logo key + X on your keyboard. Tap or click Shut down or sign out and choose Hibernate. Or, swipe in from the right edge of the screen and then tap Settings. (If you’re using a mouse, point to the lower-right corner of the screen, move the mouse pointer up, and then click Settings.) Tap or click Power Hibernate.
  • For Windows 7, click the Start button, click the arrow next to the Shut down button, and then click Hibernate.

How to Customize your Power Button Options

The first thing you want to do to ensure all power options are available to you is to examine your PC’s power button; it is located directly above the Start button.

You might notice that, for example, hibernate is missing when you click the Power button. Here’s how to customize what options you have when you click the power button.

  1. Click the Start button.
  2. Click the Settings button. It looks like a gear and is located above the Power button.
  3. Click System.
  4. Click Power & sleep.
  5. Click Additional power settings.
  6. Click Choose what the power buttons do.
  7. Click Change settings that are currently unavailable.
  8. Click the checkbox next to Hibernate so that a checkmark appears. Do the same for Sleep if the box next to it is not checked.
  9. Click Save changes.

How to Shut down or Sleep Windows 10 Computer With a Keyboard Shortcut

How to Shut down or Sleep Windows 10 Computer With a Keyboard Shortcut

Method 1: Use The Power User Menu Shortcut

The most reliable Windows 10 sleep shortcut isn’t a true keyboard shortcut—rather, it’s a quick sequence of keys. However, because it works without any setup and while using any app, it’s the best method in most cases.

Press Win + X to open the Power User Menu. You’ll notice underlined characters corresponding to shortcut keys for those actions. Press U, then use one of the following keys to shut down, sleep, or perform other power actions:

  • Press U again to shut down Windows.
  • Hit the R key to restart.
  • Press S to put Windows to sleep.
  • Use H to hibernate.
  • Hit I to sign out.

Method 2: Alt + F4 Sleep Mode Shortcut

As you might know, pressing Alt + F4 closes the current window, just like clicking the X in the top-right corner. However, if you don’t have a window currently selected, you can use Alt + F4 as a shortcut for sleep in Windows 10.

To make sure you don’t have any apps in focus, press Win + D to show your desktop. From there, tap Alt + F4 and you’ll open the Shut-Down Windows dialog box.

Depending on your system, you’ll likely see Shut down or Sleep in the dropdown box by default.

If you’re happy with this, just hit Enter to confirm the selection. Otherwise, use the arrow keys to switch to other options, then hit Enter when you’re ready.

Method 3: Create Your Own Shortcut To Sleep Windows 10

While there’s no built-in sleep shortcut for Windows 10, you can make your own keyboard shortcut pretty easily.

Creating A New Shortcut

To do this, start by right-clicking an empty spot on your desktop and choosing New > Shortcut.

In the resulting box, you’ll need to enter different text depending on whether you want a sleep shortcut key or one to shut down the computer. Use the following:

  • To shut down Windows immediately and force-close any open programs:
    • shutdown.exe -s -t 00 -f
  • To create a sleep shortcut:
    • rundll32.exe powrprof.dll,SetSuspendState 0,1,0

Unfortunately, there’s a small caveat with the sleep shortcut. If you have hibernation enabled on your computer, this command will cause the computer to sleep instead of hibernating.

After you enter the command, click Next, give the shortcut a name, and click Finish.

We hope you loved this article and that it was quite helpful to you. If you have questions or suggestions, please do well to leave a comment and also, share this article with your friends. 

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