Did you know that Windows 11 has a secret restart method? Here's how to access it

Usually, whenever a new feature comes out for Windows, Microsoft advertises it widely in a blog post to let everyone know. Or if they don’t, people discover the feature soon after an update. However, a helpful feature sometimes slips through the cracks, only to be unearthed years later.

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That was my reaction when I found this obscure Emergency Restart method for Windows 11 after stumbling across a post on the Sysadmin subreddit. Reddit user ‘-Steets-‘ shared the information in 2022, although other comments claim the method was present on Windows XP, which came out over 20 years ago.

To access Emergency Restart, press the CTRL + ALT + DEL keys on your Windows PC — a pretty normal action. However, this time, hold down the CTRL key and click the power button in the bottom-right corner of the screen.

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This action leads to a message on screen stating that you’re attempting an Emergency Restart, adding “Click OK to immediately restart. Any unsaved data will be lost.” The statement concludes, “Use this only as a last resort.” Click “OK”, and your computer will turn off and back on as normal.

You might wonder about the difference between this emergency method and a regular restart. The answer goes back to the final term — “last resort”. As BetaNews explained in 2023, the method is “an alternative to a hard reset.” The technique is the closest thing to holding down the on/off button on your PC without having to press it.

This emergency restart is useful when your computer may have frozen to the point where nothing goes through, and it doesn’t respond to anything other than CTRL + ALT + DEL. The method is also helpful on laptops lacking a physical power button.

There aren’t any drawbacks to using Emergency Restart. I did it on my desktop and multiple laptops — everything was fine. Again, this method is a last-ditch effort for certain situations, although nothing stops you from using it as often as you want.

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If you want another method, launch the Command Prompt and type “shutdown /r” to restart your machine. Instructions for other shutdown methods can be found on Microsoft’s Learn website.