In past version of Windows shutting down your PC use to be trivial, Start –> shutdown and boom you were done. Let me cut the comments off already, yes there are keyboard short cuts that did the same.
With the removal of the start button, I have noticed a few folks struggling to turn off their PC’s. Most of the time I have observed them pushing the power button. Which is not much of an issue today with windows having soft shutdown built in and enabled by default.
The first option is to use the Charm Menu,
- Open Settings from the Charms Menu (Works on desktop and Start Screen)
- Keyboard Short Cut –> Windows key + I (opens settings)
- Move mouse to lower right, when the charm menu opens, select settings.
- Click Power
- Click Shut down
Second Option from the start screen
- Click your account image in the upper right
- Select log out from the drop down
- Select the power button on the lower right
- Select shut down
Third Option from the desktop
- Press the keyboard short cut ALT+F4
- Select Shut Down
- Select OK
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Windows 8.1 update 1 was released and the answers are still mostly the same, except there is now a power icon on the start screen next to your profile picture. Also Win+X has a shut down sub menu. (I don’t remember if that was there before the updates).
It’s ridiculous that there have to be articles on how to do this. I came to this blog looking for how to make join.me not give a blank screen with a mouse pointer (thanks for that!), then noticed this post.