Microsoft

Slideshow: Create shutdown shortcuts in Windows 7

By // November 20, 2011, 4:59 PM PST // markwkaelin

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  • Create shortcut

    One of the most often asked for Microsoft Windows tweaks is for shortcuts that shutdown, power down, and restart a Windows session. The procedure for Windows 7 is very similar to that of Vista and XP, but now you can pin those freshly created shortcuts to the Start Menu or the Taskbar or to both.

    Creating a shortcut
    Creating a shortcut should be familiar to almost everyone, but we will walk through the process just for clarity. There are other ways to accomplish this task, but this is my preferred method. First, right-click on a clear spot on the desktop and navigate to New | Shortcut as shown.

    This slideshow was originally published in February 2010.

    Image created by Mark Kaelin for TechRepublic.

  • Enter command

    When you click the Shortcut menu item, you will arrive at the input screen. This is where you will enter the specific command strings to make your new shortcut do what you want it to do.

    For our example, we will enter the specific command that will shut down a Windows PC. Type the following command into the box and then click Next.

    Image created by Mark Kaelin for TechRepublic.

  • Enter name

    The next screen asks you to name the shortcut. I suggest you name the shortcut to correspond to the action it will perform. In this case, we name it Shutdown.

    Image created by Mark Kaelin for TechRepublic.

  • Properties

    Technically, you could stop here, but I prefer to give these shortcuts an icon that will help me remember what it is they do. In Windows 7, changing an icon is similar to how you changed icons in previous versions of the operating system.

    Right-click on the icon in question to get the context menu shown and then navigate to the Properties menu item.

    Image created by Mark Kaelin for TechRepublic.

  • Change icon

    From the Properties control panel, select the Change Icon button.

    Image created by Mark Kaelin for TechRepublic.

  • Pick an icon

    The next screen will show you a list of potential icons, choose the one you want to use and click the OK button twice.

    You should now have a new shortcut on your desktop. When you click the shortcut your PC will shutdown, so make sure you save your work before you test it.

    Image created by Mark Kaelin for TechRepublic.

  • Pin a shortcut

    One of the nice features of Windows 7 is that you can pin your new shortcut to the Start Menu and/or to the Taskbar. I am a big Taskbar user myself so that is where I want to put it. Right click the shortcut to get the context menu and click the Pin to Taskbar menu item.

    Image created by Mark Kaelin for TechRepublic.

  • On the taskbar

    Once the shortcut is pinned, you will always have access to a quick shutdown.

    Image created by Mark Kaelin for TechRepublic.

Create shortcut

One of the most often asked for Microsoft Windows tweaks is for shortcuts that shutdown, power down, and restart a Windows session. The procedure for Windows 7 is very similar to that of Vista and XP, but now you can pin those freshly created shortcuts to the Start Menu or the Taskbar or to both.

Creating a shortcut
Creating a shortcut should be familiar to almost everyone, but we will walk through the process just for clarity. There are other ways to accomplish this task, but this is my preferred method. First, right-click on a clear spot on the desktop and navigate to New | Shortcut as shown.

This slideshow was originally published in February 2010.

Image created by Mark Kaelin for TechRepublic.

Related Topics:

Microsoft Enterprise Software Software Collaboration Mobility Cloud Hardware

By Mark Kaelin

Mark W. Kaelin has been writing and editing stories about the IT industry, gadgets, finance, accounting, and tech-life for more than 25 years. Most recently, he has been a regular contributor to BreakingModern.com, aNewDomain.net, and TechRepublic.