Make Your Own Turn-Off Button—and More

It’s so silly that I have to click on Start to get to the command to end my session on my computer. As if that’s not enough, I then have to select from a menu to either Stand By , Turn Off or Restart . Why isn’t there a simple turn-off button?

If all you want is a turn-off button, that’s easy. I can give you more.

Not only will I give you a turn-off switch, I’ll raise you two: I’ll show you how to create three buttons—a one-step turn off, a one-step quick restart and an emergency button to abort those commands if you suddenly change your mind after clicking on one of them.

Let’s begin with the one-step turn-off or shutdown command. Right-click on your desktop and then click on New , Shortcut (see screenshot).

When the screen wizard asks you to Type the location of the item , type shutdown –s –t 0 . Be sure to include the spaces as shown; the last digit is a zero and there is no period at the end.

Then click on Next , and when you’re asked to Type a name for this shortcut , give it something unambiguous, like Shutdown , so you don’t click on it by accident. Then click Finish .

I suggest you also give it an unambiguous icon, so you can find it easily on your desktop. To do that, right-click on the new shortcut and choose Properties and then click on Change Icon . That will trigger a large collection of icons. Click on any one and then on OK and OK again. Here’s what mine looks like:

To create the quick restart, follow the same steps only the command line is shutdown –r –t 0 .

If you find the commands occur too quickly—and you want more time so you can reconsider your action—you can slow it down by adjusting the –t 0 at the end of the command line. For example, if you change the command to –t 10 , it will initiate within 10 seconds. If you remove the –t switch entirely, it will quit in 30 seconds.

And finally, to create the abort switch, use this formula: shutdown –a . But, of course, you have to hit that switch before the –t switch kicks in.