How to Remote Restart or Shutdown another computer in Windows 10/11.

As an Administrator on Windows computers, you may occasionally need to restart or shutdown a remote computer or server.
Remotely restarting a computer is very useful in cases where you need to restart several computers at the same time, because you don't need to visit each machine separately.

This guide provides five different methods for remotely shutting down or restarting Windows computers and servers that are on the same network. Therefore, for remote restart or shutdown to work, ensure the all computers are on the same network.

How to Remotely Restart or Shutdown Windows 10/11 PC's or Windows Servers.

Part 1. Allow Remote Commands on Target Computer.

Part 2. How to Remote Restart or Remote Shutdown Windows.

1. Command Prompt
2. PowerShell
3. PsShutdown
4. Remote Shutdown Dialog
5. Remote Desktop

Part 1. Allow the Execution or Remote Commands on Target Computer.

Before you can remotely reboot or shut down a Windows computer or server, you will first need to make some modifications to the target computer(s) in order to accept the remote restart or shutdown commands.

Step 1. Disable User Account Control (UAC)

To allow the execution of remote commands, you need to disable the UAC though registry, on the target machine. To do that:

1. Simultaneously press the Windows + R keys to open run command box.
2. In run command box, type: cmd and press CTRL + SHIFT + Enter to open Command Prompt as Administrator.

2. In command prompt, give the following command and hit Enter.

• reg add HKLM\Software\Microsoft\windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\system /v LocalAccountTokenFilterPolicy /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f

3. Restart the PC.

Step 2. Allow Remote Shutdown from PowerShell in the Windows Firewall.*

* Note: This modification is needed only if you want to remotely restart or shutdown a pc using PowerShell commands. (See Method-5 below)

1. Type firewall into the search box and then open Firewall & network protection.

2. Click Allow an app through firewall.

3. Now tap on the Change settings button.

4. Now find and allow the Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) feature for the Private network only. When done, click OK.

Part 2. How to Remote Restart or Remote Shutdown a Windows Computer or Server.

Method 1. Restart or Shutdown a Remote Computer using Command Line.

Command prompt is the fastest way to restart or shutdown a remote computer.*

* Attention: To be able to shutdown or restart a computer remotely you must have administrative privileges on the remote pc**, and the remote computer must be in the same workgroup or domain as your computer.

** Note: If you haven't admin privileges on the remote PC, but you know the Username and the Password of a user on the remote PC that has admin privileges, skip to next method.

1. To RESTART A REMOTE COMPUTER FROM COMMAND PROMPT, give this command:

• shutdown /m \\COMPUTER /r

* Note: Replace the word "COMPUTER", with the Name or the IP Address of the remote pc that you want to restart or shutdown.

e.g: to remote restart a remote pc with name "Desktop10" and IP "192.168.1.100", issue one of the following commands:

• shutdown /m \\192.168.1.100 /r
• shutdown /m \\Desktop10 /r

After the execution of the above command the user will see the following on their screen

2. To SHUTDOWN A REMOTE COMPUTER FROM COMMAND PROMPT, give this command:

• shutdown /m \\COMPUTER /s

For example: to remote shutdown the pc with name "Desktop10", give this command:

• shutdown /m \\Desktop10 /s

Here are some useful switches that can be used with the shutdown command:*

• /s Shutdown the computer.
• /r Reboot the computer.
• /t xxx  Set the time-out period before shutdown to xxx seconds
• /c "comment" Comment on the reason for the restart or shutdown.
• /f Force running applications to close without forewarning users.
• /a Abort the system shutdown or restart.

* Note: To view all the available switches and their description type: shutdown /?

Example: To remotely reboot the "Desktop10" computer after 30 seconds and inform the user that the reboot is for maintenance purposes, issue the following command:

• shutdown /m \\Desktop10 /r /t 30 /c "Your PC must be restarted for maintenance in 30 seconds"

After executing the above command the user on the remote pc, will see the following on the screen:

Method 2. Shutdown or Restart a Remote Computer Using PowerShell.

PowerShell may also be used to shut down or restart a remote computer. The disadvantage of PowerShell is that it does not provide as many options as the shutdown command. Also, there is no option to display a countdown or a custom message to the users, or to inform them that they will be logged out. *

* Note: Before you continue to remotely shutdown a pc through PowerShell, enable the  Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) in Windows Firewall on the remote pc (See Step-2 above)

1. To RESTART A REMOTE COMPUTER FROM POWERSHELL, enter the following command:*

• Restart-Computer -computername COMPUTER -force

Note: Replace the word "COMPUTER", with the name or the IP Address of the remote pc that you want to restart or shutdown.

Example1: To remotely restart the pc with name "IP95" and IP "192.168.1.201", issue one of these commands:

• Restart-Computer -computername IP95 -force
• Restart-Computer -computername 192.168.1.201 -force

Example2: To restart two remote PC's with IP's "192.168.1.200" & "192.168.1.210", issue this command:

• Restart-Computer -computername 192.168.1.200, 192.168.1.210 -force

2. To RESTART A REMOTE COMPUTER FROM POWERSHELL USING THE CREDENTIALS of a DOMAIN USER OR OF A USER ON THE REMOTE COMPUTER, issue the following command:

• Restart-Computer -computername COMPUTER -Credential Username -force

Example1: To restart the remote computer "IP95" with IP "192.168.1.201", using the remote pc's credentials (username "John"), give one of these commands and type the password when prompted:

• Restart-Computer -computername IP95 -Credential John -force
• Restart-Computer -computername 192.168.1.201 -Credential John -force

Example2. To restart the remote computer "IP95" with IP "192.168.1.201", using the domain user "John", on the Domain "WINTIPS" give one of these commands and type the password when prompted:

• • Restart-Computer -computername IP95 -Credential WINTIPS\John -force

• Restart-Computer -computername 192.168.1.201 -Credential WINTIPS\John -force

3. To TURN OFF A REMOTE COMPUTER FROM POWERSHELL, enter the following command:

• Stop-Computer -computername COMPUTER -force

Example1: To shutdown the remote pc with name "IP95", issue this command:

• Stop-Computer -computername IP95 -force

Example2. To shutdown the remote computer with IP "192.168.1.201", using the domain user "John", on the Domain "WINTIPS" give this command and type the password when prompted:

• Stop-Computer -computername 192.168.1.201 -Credential WINTIPS\John -force

Example3: To remotely shutdown two remote PC's with IP's "192.168.1.200" & "192.168.1.210", issue this command:

• Stop-Computer -computername 192.168.1.200, 192.168.1.210 -force

Method 3. Restart a Remote PC using PsShutdown.

PsShutdown is a command-line utility built by Microsoft and is similar to the shutdown command utility of the Windows, but with the ability to shut down or restart a remote computer using the credentials of a user on the remote machine who has administrative rights.

1. Download PsTools (PsShutdown is included in PsTools).

2. After download, double-click at PsTools.zip file and extract it to a folder.

3. Now open Command Prompt, and navigate to PsTools folder. *

* Note: to make your life easier, I suggest to copy the PsTools folder to C:\

4. Now, according to what you want to do, issue the corresponding command below:*

* Notes:
1. Replace the word "COMPUTER", with the name or the IP Address of the remote pc that you want to restart or shutdown.
2. -r Restarts the remote computer.
3. -s Shut down the remote computer.
4. /t xxx  Specifies countdown in xxx seconds until shutdown
5. -u Specifies the optional user name for login to the remote computer.
6. -p Specifies optional password for the given username.
7. Type psshutdown.exe /? to view all the available switches

5. To RESTART A REMOTE COMPUTER USING PsShutdown, type:

• psshutdown.exe \\COMPUTER -u COMPUTER\Username -p "Password" -r

e.g: to restart the remote pc "Desktop10" with IP "192.168.1.201", using the remote pc's credentials (username "John" and password "ct"), give one of these commands:

• psshutdown.exe \\Desktop10 -u Desktop10\John -p "ct" -r
• psshutdown.exe \\192.168.1.201 -u 192.168.1.201\John -p "ct" -r

6. To SHUTDOWN A REMOTE COMPUTER USING PsShutdown, type:

• psshutdown.exe \\COMPUTER -u COMPUTER\Username -p "Password" -s

e.g: to shutdown the remote pc "Desktop10", using the remote pc's credentials (username "John" and password "ct"), give this command:

• psshutdown.exe \\Desktop10 -u Desktop10\John -p "ct" -s

Method 4. Remote Reboot or Shutdown Multiple PC's using Remote Shutdown Dialog in Active Directory Domain.

If you're an Administrator in an Active Directory Domain, you can restart simultaneously multiple computers, by using the Remote Shutdown Dialog tool.

1. Simultaneously press the Windows + R keys to open run command box.
2. In run command box, type: shutdown /i and press Enter.

3. Click Add and then type the name(s) of the remote computer(s) that you want to shutdown, or click the Browse button to choose them from the Active Directory.

4. Select Restart or Shutdown from the "What do you want these computers do" drop-down menu.

5. If you want to warn users about the shutdown/restart, check the corresponding box and optionally enter a reason in the comment section. When done, click OK.

Method 5. Remote Restart or Shutdown a a PC using Remote Desktop.

A computer can also be shut down or restarted via remote desktop connection (RDP). So, if you have access to the remote PC that you want to restart or shutdown through RDP, proceed as follows:

Step 1: Enable Remote Desktop Access on Remote PC.*

* Note: If the remote desktop access is already enabled, skip to next step.

To be able to shutdown or restart a remote PC, through Remote Desktop Connection, you have first to allow the remote desktop access on the remote PC. To do that:

1. Go to Start > Settings > System.
2.  Select Remote Desktop on the left and then Enable Remote Desktop at the right pane.

Step 2. Shutdown or Restart the Remote Pc using Remote Desktop Connection.

To restart a remote PC using RDP:

1. Simultaneously press the Windows + R keys to open run command box.
2. In run command box, type: mstsc and press Enter.

3. Type the name or the IP address of the remote computer that you want to shutdown or restart and click Connect.

4. Type the target's computer user credentials and click OK to connect.

5. After entering in the remote desktop, press Alt + F4 to open the Shut Down dialog.
6. Choose Restart or Shutdown from the drop-down list and click OK.

That's it! Which method worked for your?
Let me know if this guide has helped you by leaving your comment about your experience. Please like and share this guide to help others.

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Konstantinos Tsoukalas

Konstantinos is the founder and administrator of Wintips.org. Since 1995 he works and provides IT support as a computer and network expert to individuals and large companies. He is specialized in solving problems related to Windows or other Microsoft products (Windows Server, Office, Microsoft 365, etc.).

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