Windows · Troubleshooting
Restart Your System
System Restart allows you to safely reboot your PC, clearing temporary files and refreshing all running processes. This can resolve many common issues such as slow performance, unresponsive applications, and minor software glitches.
How to open System Restart
- Click Start → Power → Restart.
- Wait while Windows shuts down and boots back up.
- Sign back in and reopen your applications.
What you should know
- Save all open work before initiating a restart to prevent data loss.
- A standard restart typically takes 1–3 minutes depending on your hardware.
- Scheduled restarts can be configured through your operating system's power settings.
- If your system becomes unresponsive, a hard restart (holding the power button for 10 seconds) should be used as a last resort.
Unsaved work will be lost during a system restart. Always save and close all applications before proceeding.
Why it matters
A simple restart clears out memory leaks, kills stuck background processes, and lets pending updates or driver changes take effect — often solving problems that look far more serious than they are. Many 'application not responding' and general sluggishness issues disappear after a restart because Windows discards any corrupted in-memory state built up during your session. It's the cheapest, lowest-risk troubleshooting step available before touching more advanced settings.
Best practices
- Save open documents and close apps that don't auto-save before restarting.
- Restart weekly even if your PC feels fine, since sleep alone never fully clears memory the way a restart does.
- Use Restart instead of Shut Down when troubleshooting, since Shut Down on Windows 11 uses Fast Startup and doesn't fully reset system state.
- If the PC is frozen, wait at least 30 seconds before holding the power button to force a restart.
Common problems and fixes
- PC hangs on the 'Restarting' screen for an extended time.
- Wait 10-15 minutes for any pending update to finish applying; if it truly freezes, force a hard restart by holding the power button for 10 seconds.
- Apps reopen automatically after restart in a way you didn't want.
- Turn off 'Automatically save my restartable apps and restart them' in Settings → Accounts → Sign-in options.
- System restarts unexpectedly on its own.
- Check Windows Update's active hours and Event Viewer's System log for automatic-update or crash-triggered restarts.
Tips and tricks
- Hold Shift while clicking Restart from the Start menu to boot directly into Advanced Startup Options instead of a normal restart.
- Use 'shutdown /r /t 0' in a Command Prompt or Run dialog for an instant restart without confirmation dialogs.
- If a restart hangs repeatedly, boot into Safe Mode via Advanced Startup to isolate whether a startup app or driver is the cause.
Frequently asked questions
What's the difference between Restart and Shut Down then Power On?
Restart always performs a full reboot and clears all session state, while Shut Down can use Fast Startup (hibernating the kernel session) on Windows 11 by default, so it doesn't always fully reset things the way a Restart does.
Why does Windows sometimes restart without asking me?
This usually happens after a scheduled update installs outside your configured active hours, or after a critical system error forces an automatic recovery reboot.
Is it bad to restart my PC every day?
No, restarting daily is generally healthy for a Windows PC and can prevent the gradual slowdown that comes from long uptimes with many background apps running.
Related settings
- Windows ResetWindows Reset allows you to reinstall the operating system while choosing whether to keep your personal files or remove everything. This option is useful when your PC is experiencing serious performance issues, system corruption, or persistent software problems.
- Power & SleepPower & Sleep settings let you control when your screen turns off and when your device goes to sleep while idle. Adjusting these settings can help balance battery life and performance.
- Windows UpdateWindows Update allows you to download and install the latest security patches, feature updates, and performance improvements. Keeping your system updated helps protect against vulnerabilities and ensures optimal performance.
More Troubleshooting guides for Windows
- Network ResetNetwork Reset restores all networking components to their factory default settings. This includes removing all saved WiFi networks, resetting TCP/IP stack, and clearing DNS cache. Use this as a troubleshooting step when other network fixes have not resolved your issue.
- RecoveryRecovery brings together the tools for fixing a Windows PC that won't start correctly or is having serious problems, including Advanced startup (for Safe Mode, Startup Repair, and command-line recovery tools), System Restore, and Fix problems using Windows Update. It's a broader troubleshooting toolkit than Reset This PC alone, covering scenarios where a full reset is more than you need.
- TroubleshootTroubleshoot gathers Windows' built-in automated diagnostic tools in one place, covering internet connections, audio playback and recording, printers, Bluetooth, Windows Update, and more. Each troubleshooter runs a scripted sequence of checks against the specific feature it targets and applies a fix automatically wherever it safely can, instead of requiring you to already know the underlying cause.
- Get Help AppOpens the Get Help app, Microsoft's built-in support tool that provides guided troubleshooting for common Windows problems and can connect you to a live support agent when self-service steps don't resolve an issue.
- Feedback HubOpens the Feedback Hub app, which lets you report bugs, log performance problems with diagnostic traces, and upvote or suggest new features that Microsoft's Windows engineering teams review.
- Task Manager Performance MonitoringOpens Task Manager, which shows real-time resource usage across CPU, memory, disk, GPU, and network, lets you end unresponsive processes, and manage which apps launch automatically at startup.